Return to Me
by YuHtje
Summary: After a mission gone horribly wrong, Soul and his team loose a precious member. Seeking revenge, Soul and Black*Star are looking for the witch who caused this pain. Little do they know, that there's a lot more going on without them knowing. And when the truth comes out, can it all be like it used to? Or will the feeling of betrayal take Soul over?
1. Prologue

_It had all gone so wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen_

"Maka!" Soul shouted to his meister, who was laying like a rag doll on the ground. Her leg was bent in an awkward angle, her skin was broken by scratches and bruises but what worried the weapon most were her eyes. The emerald orbs, usually sparkling with life, were now clouded over by a haze. As if she was staring at something above her that no one else could see.

Soul felt the wavelength between them shaking. As if it was hanging on by a threat. No this couldn't be happening! He thought desperately. "Maka, listen to me! Stay with me!"

_It wasn't supposed to be so hard to stop the witch. She wasn't supposed to be this strong._

"Soul, how's she holding up?" Kid asked worried. He looked over his shoulder and saw his friend bend over the small blonde. His words didn't seem to reach Soul but he couldn't repeat himself since his attention was being pulled back to his target ahead of him.

"Maka don't you dare do this to me!" Soul growled. He stroked her cheek, leaving a bloody smear on her ivory skin. His hands had become coated in crimson when he'd tried to stem the gaping wound at Maka's side.

"S-Soul?" Maka whispered, her eyes finally seeming to find her partner's. If Soul hadn't payed close attention to her, he would've missed it.

But of course he didn't. He'd never stop paying attention to Maka. "Maka stay with me! I swear to Death I'll never forgive you if you leave me."

Maka smiled a little. "You're not getting that easily rid of me." she said before she started coughing. And to Soul's horror she coughed up blood

"You're going to be okay Maka, I promise!" Soul said, pulling Maka in his arms. "Where are the reinforcements?"

Maka slipped her hand in Soul's and pinched it a little before she suddenly became dead weight, eyes closed.

"Maka no! God damn it Maka, open your eyes!" Soul cried.

From a distance he heard the helicopters coming their way.

* * *

**Hey there! I'm currently updating the story... correction small errors and maybe even adding some things in the story! I hope you like it.**


	2. Promises

**Ten months later.**

Soul opened his eyes in an almost robotic way. Another nightmare.

He looked at his nightstand, checking the time. Three am. It was too early to get up and ready for school. But Soul, knowing he couldn't get to sleep anymore, got up and dressed.

He half expected/half hoped Maka would come to his room to check on him but she didn't.

She couldn't. There wasn't a Maka anymore.

When the helicopters had come to the battlefield to pick the team up, they immediately took Maka to the hospital. She'd been in surgery for three hours before Soul and the others received the news.

Maka had died of her injuries. The witch had escaped. Everything had been for nought.

They lost their dear friend for nothing.

Soul had been so angry that he almost threw himself at the surgeon, had it not been for Black*Star and Kid. Liz had gone into a state of hysteria, saying that it was impossible. That they made a mistake and that Maka would be waiting for them in one of the hundred hospital rooms. She'd even ran off to look for her.

Patti had gone into a corner, rocking her small body back and forth, whispering, "This is not happening," over and over. And Black*Star, he'd been beyond angry. He wanted to go after the witch that had caused them this pain but Tsubaki had stopped him.

In fact, Tsubaki and Kid were the only ones that seemed to keep it all together. Kid had had an icy calmness on him as he talked with the surgeon and Tsubaki had been busy talking sense into Black*Star.

And then came the mourning process. Shinigami had given the team some time off to cope with the loss. Spirit and Soul had taken the task of her funeral on their shoulders. Not even three weeks after the battle they had set a funeral up. Soul was shell shocked when he saw all the people coming up to attend the service. Nearly half Death City wanted to pay their respects for the loss of the young meister.

Words were said, tears were shed, music was played. Soul felt his heart crack when he heard Maka's favorite song play over the stereo. A sweet piano lullaby.

Even back then he refused to accept that his partner, his friend, his soulmate, was gone. But the realization had hit him like a ton of bricks when he stood by her gravestone, alone. And he'd cried and cursed and slammed his fist on the ground.

Tsubaki was the one who found him, tired and angry and sad.

"_Soul," Tsubaki gasped when she found the weapon kneeled down at the fresh grave._

"_I can't leave Tsubaki." Soul said back. His voice strained. "I can't leave her here alone."_

_And instead of trying to convince him to come with her, Tsubaki stood beside him. "I'm so sorry Soul," she whispered. "I – we all loved her so much. And we'll all miss her so much."_

_Soul shook his head. "I never got to tell her how much she meant to me. That I loved her."_

_Tsubaki smiled a little at him, though it was a sad smile. "She knew that you loved her, Soul. And she loved you back in equal passion. You never knew but she talked all the time about you. You meant the world to her."_

Soul didn't know – and still doesn't know – if the words brought him comfort or dread. He walked the kitchen in and made some breakfast for himself.

Those little things, making food, watching TV, doing the laundry, pained him. For he knew there wouldn't be soft humming when Maka would make food, or playful argument when Soul would watch a game while she wanted to watch some lame documentary, of Soul wouldn't find her laundry between his in the hamper.

Soul felt his appetite leave his body but he forced himself to eat. He had to keep his shit together. Maka would've never forgiven him if he let himself fall into the depression. So he ate his cereals and did the dishes. Then he walked past the living room, to Maka's room. He always did this whenever he woke up from a nightmare. He needed his meister's comfort.

Her room was still as neat as ever. Desk cleared up, books placed neatly on the shelves, papers stored in a folder. Soul walked over to the bookcase and scanned the titles.

Mostly heavy reads about technicians and weapons. Techniques, history, whatever not. But there was also novels. Soul picked one up and flipped through it.

He noticed how there were small pencil written words around the margins. Soul sat down on Maka's bed and started to read. Not the story – he couldn't give shit about the story – but the little notes Maka had written. Small theories, things that stood out for her. It was like Soul had a little peak in what used to go inside his meister's head whenever she was reading.

His thoughts got disrupted when he felt his cellphone buzz in his pocket. To his surprise it was Black*Star. 'Have a lead on the witch. You in or not?'

Soul frowned. Black*Star had started a hunt on the witch who got away. It was almost unhealthy how he determined he was to find her. But Soul wanted revenge just as bad as Black*Star so whenever the ninja found a lead, he notified Soul.

Soul texted him back, saying he'd be at his place in a few minutes before turning back to the book. After giving it one last look he put it back on the shelve and left the room. He grabbed his jacket and left the apartment.

When he reached Black*Star and Tsubaki's apartment the door was already open. Soul found the young ninja sitting on the ground. Papers surrounded him and there was a laptop on his lap.

"How long have you stayed up?" Soul asked.

"Haven't slept."

Soul raised a brow. "Does Tsubaki know?"

Black*Star shook his head. "She went early to bed. Said I wouldn't stay up too long."

"Looks like you kept that promise," Soul said sarcastically.

That caught Black*Star's attention. He looked over at the weapon with a frown. "I heard something about the witch. Wanted to see if it was right."

"What did you hear?"

"They say Maka did more to the witch than just give her a nasty beat up," - Soul flinched a little at his meister's name - "With her last attack she was able to make a crack in the witch's soul. A small part of her Grigori Soul was taken with the blow and is now making its way in the witch. People say she's starting to fall apart."

Soul's eyes were big in disbelieve. She had been able to put a piece of her soul in the witch?

"Those are rumors but still... it's better than nothing." Black*Star mumbled somberly.

"Any idea where she is now?" Soul wanted to know. Unfortunately the ninja shook his head.

"Tried to find her but it's like she's wiped off of the earth." Of course, the witch was hiding out.

She was becoming vulnerable.

"We have to find her!" Soul said, suddenly determined.

"What?"

"She's becoming weak! We can probably kill her if we find her!"

"Soul, even if we find her, we can't be sure that she is weaker. Like I said, they're all rumors." Black*Star protested.

"Guys," Tsubaki's voice stopped Soul from firing back at the blue haired boy. They both turned and found Tsubaki standing in the doorway, a worried frown set between her brows. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing Tsu, go back to bed," Black*Star said. He didn't want his meister to know about the rumor. It could give her false hope. It already did for Soul and he wanted to save the girl from the pain.

"Sure?" Tsubaki asked, still worried.

The boys nodded. "I'll wake you when we have to get ready for school," Black*Star promised.

After a nod from the girl, she left for her bedroom.

"Black*Star, I have to think like the rumors are right. I have to find that witch and kill her. I owe it to Maka." Soul mumbled.

"How will you do that?" Black*Star asked. "You have no meister."

"I'll use the black blood. I'll figure something out. All I know is that I can't let her get away."

Black*Star saw the pain and desperation in his friend's eyes. The loss of Maka had hit the whole team but Soul had it the worst. He lost his meister and closest friend. Black*Star couldn't imagine Tsubaki leaving his side. It would hurt like a bitch. He'd do anything to make things right. So he knew he had to support Soul in this. "I'll help," he promised.


	3. Visit

**To: Parisian devision**

**From: Tsubaki  
Subject: New Lead**

**Black*Star found a new lead. Didn't catch it really well but it's said that the witch is getting weaker. Soul is getting involved. I'll try to keep him away from the idea to go after her. Not sure if it'll work. I'll keep you posted.**

**Stay safe,**

**Tsubaki**

**To: Tsubaki Nakatsukasa  
From: Parisian devision  
Subject: Re:New Lead**

**Thank you for letting heard from you. I will get on it. Make sure to keep Soul away from it. Should things happen, notify ASAP. Does Kid know?**

Soul woke up from a poke in his ribs. "Wake up Soul, we have to go," Liz said.

Soul raised his head and saw the tall blond looking a little worried at him. He hated it.

He caught his friends sending worried glances at him all the time. It was annoying as fuck! He didn't need their pity. Didn't want it.

He pushed himself out of his seat and walked the classroom out. They all decided to go to Kid after school. He followed them out of Shibusen, to the mansion.

Liz and Patti were busy talking, Black*Star was showing Tsubaki his muscles, saying he needed to work out more, and Kid was walking next to Soul in silence.

"Can I help you or something?" Soul asked a little annoyed.

"How are you doing Soul?" Kid asked politely.

"Fine."

Kid didn't seem to believe him but he let it slide. "Heard you and Black*Star found some rumor about the witch that killed Maka."

Soul flinched at Kid's hard words. He nodded. "It's said that Maka put a small part of her soul in her final attack on the witch and that it is now working its way into her, destroying her from the inside out." Soul looked at his friend. "Is it possible?"

Kid shrugged. "Not really sure. I've never seen it happen."

Soul nodded. They continued their walk in silence. Both boys occupied by their thoughts.

It wasn't until they reached the mansion that Soul realized everyone had gone quiet. Even Black*Star. "What's going on?" Soul asked.

"Tsubaki came up with a idea but we're not sure if you're okay with it," Liz admitted.

Soul looked at Tsubaki, curious. "Well, spill it out."

"I just thought, maybe we could go to Maka. It has been a while. We can bring some food with us." Tsubaki said softly, then quickly added, "If you're okay with of course."

Soul grimaced. "Yeah sure." he said. Only to stop their pitiful looks.

Tsubaki took the task of preparing food while the others waited for her. In ten minutes she was back with a picnic basket and they walked to Death City's cemetery.

There was a special section set up for weapons and meisters in the back. They followed the path and soon found Maka's grave.

**Maka Albarn **

**Born september 12 1997**

**Passed august 13 2015**

**** meister**

The words stabbed Soul's eyes from the moment he looked at the stone. "You were almost eighteen," He realized out loud. "It was almost your birthday."

He felt his friends' concerned eyes on him but Soul ignored it. Instead, he just sat down next to the grave and started removing the weeds.

The others started to help him. Patti found some small pretty flowers and replaced them with the old ones, Liz wiped the stone clean with the rag Tsubaki brought with her and Black*Star lit a little candle for her. When they were all finished they joined Soul on the ground. Tsubaki passed sandwiches around and they ate in silence.

"Okay, favorite thing about Maka?" Black*Star asked when he couldn't take the pressing silence anymore.

The team looked a little surprised at him. Liz was the first one to answer, "Her courage."

"Her hair," Patti joined.

"I think I'll join Patti on the hair department," Kid agreed. "Her pigtails were always perfectly symmetrical."

Black*Star rolled his eyes while the others chuckled. Even Soul smirked.

"I liked her calm spirit a lot," Tsubaki added to the list.

"What calm spirit?" Soul asked, still smirking. "Haven't you noticed her temper?"

"Yeah!" Black*Star joined. "You obviously never had a Maka chop!"

Tsubaki giggled. "Because I wasn't acting like an idiot."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Apologize to your god immediately!"

The team laughed. It felt good to laugh. They hadn't done it in a long time.

"I uhm – my favorite thing about her was her kindness. Not only to us, but to everyone who needed help," Soul mumbled. "When we were in Rome, right before we met Crona, there were some punks who looked for a fight. Nothing exciting happened but they were really annoying. Later, Maka detected their souls, together with Crona's. She somehow knew they were in trouble and she wanted to help them. Even though those assholes wanted to hurt her a couple of hours before."

Kid smirked. "That sure sounds like our Maka."

The others nodded in agreement. And so they started sharing stories and fond memories, while the sun was slowly setting under the horizon.


	4. A worried star

**To: Tsubaki Nakatsukasa  
From: Parisian devision  
Subject: Calm before the storm.**

**Tsubaki, I have a bad feeling. Is everything going alright in Death City?  
Are the others okay?  
I don't know why I'm feeling this unease. Like something bad is about to happen. I contacted Death but he said everything is peaceful and quiet in the world.  
Do you know if Black*Star found another lead on the witch? We can't seem to find her.**

**Let me know when something happens.**

Tsubaki looked with worry at her screen. Long time to think about it, wasn't. Black*Star and Soul were sitting in the other room and could sneak up on her anytime. So she quickly clicked it away, deciding to respond later to it, and walked back to the living room where the two boys were playing a violent video game.

"Uhm, Black*Star," Tsubaki said softly. Still, the blue haired ninja heard her.

"What's up Tsu?" he asked her without breaking concentration on the screen.

"I was just wondering, did that rumor about Maka's soul, did it turned out to be false?"

That caught Black*Star's attention. He paused the game – earning a cry of protest from Soul – and turned to his weapon. "Why are you asking?"

Tsubaki rubbed the back of her neck, trying to seem casual. "Just curious," she lied.

Black*Star didn't seem to buy it but went along with it anyway, "We're not sure yet if it's true or false. We wanted to go to Shinigami-sama to ask if it was possible."

Tsubaki nodded. "Any other leads?"

Black*Star shook his head, eyeing his weapon suspiciously. Tsubaki was twisting her ponytail in her hands, a sign of nervousness. Gently he took her hands away from her hair and gave her a smile. He had to keep faith that nothing was bothering his weapon.

"Oi, Black*Star! Start the game already!" Soul growled.

Black*Star turned back to his friend, his hyper spirit back in check. "Who are you to command your god?" he asked with a melodramatic voice.

"Come on Black*Star! Quit the drama and keep on playing."

But Black*Star didn't listen to Soul. Instead he jumped at the white haired boy and knocked them both on the ground. "You need to learn where your place is, in this house," he told the struggling Soul.

"Cut it out already you moron!" Soul growled.

Tsubaki watched the boys fight with an amused smile. As Black*Star was yelling phrases of worship about himself, Tsubaki realized she had to be more careful.

Though the ninja may look oblivious to everything, he certainly wasn't. They met eyes for a second before Black*Star broke the contact, being pushed off of Soul.

"Moron!" Soul grumbled as he straightened his shirt. He didn't even try to fix his hair, it was too messy to fix.

Tsubaki remembered a time where Maka always messed the boy's hair up to tease him. It made her mood drop a little. She missed the young meister very much.

"Hey Tsu!" Black*Star called, pulling Tsubaki out of her thoughts. "When's dinner ready?"

"I'll start right away Black*Star!" Tsubaki said back, smiling a warmly, before heading to the kitchen.

Soul watched the girl leave, then looked at Black*Star. "Everything going okay?" he asked when he saw his friend looking worried at the direction Tsubaki had gone to.

Black*Star quickly turned back to the game. "Of course! A star like me is always okay!" he chimed.

Still, Soul could see a puzzled frown starting to form on the boy's face.

_***Hi guys, sorry for another short chapter. It's just that I try to finish a chapter with a nice end. not some halfway - mid cut crap... so bear with me.**_  
_**I will post a long chapter very soon.**_

_**Stay cool!***_


	5. Dream

**Two chapters on one day? What is this madness?  
JK, thought you guys deserved something extra since the past three chapters had been so short.  
This is still short but I promise you, the next one will be longer! Sh*t is about to go down!**

**So anyway, I hope you like this chapter. Leave a review if you want to and I'll see you guys soon!**

**(****_btw: has anyone figured out who's e-mailing with Tsubaki? ;p)_**

"_Soul! Help me!" Maka called out._

_Soul looked desperately around him, trying to find his meister, but she was nowhere to be found._

"_Tick tock," he heard a very familiar voice whisper in his ear._

_Soul turned and saw the little red demon standing by the piano, looking extremely amused. "Where is she!" he asked._

_The little demon smiled even wider – Soul didn't know it was possible. "You can't save her scythe boy."_

_Soul set his jaw. "Watch me!" he dared and walked past the demon, to the door. He yanked it open, only to enter a pitch black room. There were no lit candles, no piano, no tiled floor and – to his relief – no red little demon. _

_But the darkness was pressing down on him, making it harder for him to breath. A force pushed him into the room and he was surrounded by black. _

_It was so quiet, only his breathing filled his ears. Then a dripping noise._

"_What the -!" Soul mumbled and followed the noise. It got louder and louder each second that he walked._

_At one point Soul had to stop because his head was filled with the deafening noise of the dripping. He fell to his knees and clutched his head, hoping that it would soften the sound. It didn't._

_Out of nowhere a bright white spotlight flashed on. Soul had to cover his eyes to fight the sudden light that attacked him. Once his eyes were used to it, he saw that someone was standing in the spotlight. Soul couldn't make out facial features but he knew it was _her _the moment he reached the edge of the spotlight._

"_Soul," he heard her say. It was like she was a siren, calling out for him, and he was the poor sailor, falling right into her trap._

_Soul looked her over. She looked like she used to. Alive and pretty. Those green emeralds sparked with a happiness that stabbed him in the gut. "Maka, how?" he asked. "I'm dreaming aren't I?"_

_Maka nodded and reached her hand out to him. "It's okay though."_

_Soul couldn't fight the urge to take her hand. He knew that, once he'd wake up, it would hurt like a bitch, but for now he was happy to ignore it. He needed her in his arms. Even if it was just a dream. So he took her hand, and pulled her into his body. His arms wrapped around her small body, nose pressed into her hair. It felt real. She felt real. "I missed you so much. More than you can imagine."_

_Maka giggled. "I think I have an idea."_

"_I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."_

_A gloved hand touched Soul's cheek. "For what?" she asked, ever so gently._

"_I couldn't save you. I couldn't protect you. I failed you as your partner." Soul whispered hoarsely in her hair. He let all the guilt wash over him._

_Maka chuckled, but it sounded tired. "... not your fault," she whispered back, barely audible. "I was so stupid to dive in."_

_Soul pulled back alarmed, and watched in horror how a gaping hole started to form in his meister's side. Scratches and dirt appeared on her face as if someone was painting on her. "No!" he cried, horrified. "No this can't be happening again."_

_Maka smiled sadly at her weapon. "I'm sorry too, Soul," she said. "I never wanted to leave you. I loved you."_

_Soul, feeling desperation take over, took her face in his hands and pulled her into a kiss. It tasted salty, probably from the tears that were rolling down his cheeks, but he couldn't care. When he pulled back he saw Maka's eyes clouding over. "I loved you too," he told her. "I still love you."_

_Maka nodded. "I always thought we'd grow old together. That you would scream at little kids to get off our lawn." she giggled at the fantasy. When she looked back at Soul there was blood coming out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," she repeated before she shattered into a million pieces._

"_Maka!" Soul cried out. But the spotlight turned off and he was left in darkness._


	6. Wake up call

Soul shot up on his bed. Sweat soaking his shirt and the bed sheets.

Furiously, he kicked the covers off of him. "Fuck fuck fuck!" He groaned. He hated dreaming about Maka. It would always give him this heart wrenching pain.

Soul got up and grabbed some clothes. After changing into jeans and t-shirt he left the apartment. He took the motorcycle and drove off. Anywhere better than the lonely apartment.

The sun was just starting to rise as Soul cruised the empty streets of Death City. It was saturday and everyone was still sound asleep. What the hell could he do?

It's not like he could take a mission. He had no meister.

Soul got multiple offers to be someone's weapon but he refused. He didn't know why but he felt like he would betray Maka if he took another partner. Not like Maka would mind.

She'd want him to move on. But he couldn't.

Soul ended up in the desert, just outside the city. Where they'd found Crona, all those months ago. He sat down in the sand and watched how the sky slowly light up by the rising sun.

Weekends were the worst for him. Then everyone was busy doing something.

Black*Star and Tsubaki would go to the gym to train and Kid and the Thompson girls would go on missions.

What would they do on the weekends? Soul thought to himself. Oh yeah right, Maka would wake him and she'd make breakfast for them. Then they'd just stay in the apartment and waste the day. Maka would read and Soul would watch basketball games or play video games.

He didn't know why he couldn't stop thinking about his meister so much lately. Even the nightmares had gotten more vivid lately.

Soul realized it was no use staying in the desert. So he got back on his feet, dusted his clothes off, and returned to his bike. He could use the free time from school to spend it looking for the witch.

Soul couldn't fight a wicked grin when he thought about finding the person who took his angel away from him. From a distance he could hear the little red demon chuckling at Soul's murderous thoughts but he pushed the creature away. He didn't need that little asshole to take his head over.

Soul drove back to Death City and parked his motorcycle at a small diner for some breakfast. To his surprise he saw Spirit walking past him when he was just about to enter the tavern. "Spirit!"

The red haired Death Scythe turned to Soul. "Evans," he said, looking just as surprised as the boy in question. "What are you doing here this early? I don't recall you being a morning person."

"Believe me, I'm not."

Spirit softened a little. It's not like they had become friends but every since the loss of his daughter, they'd bonded more. "How ya doing Soul?"

Soul rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, I guess. You?"

"I'm good."

The two men stood in silence for a couple of seconds. Both not quite knowing what to say or do. "Can I do anything for you?" Spirit finally asked.

"I – I don't know."

Spirit smiled a little. "I was planning to go to Stein. Want to join?"

Fuck, why not? Soul thought and nodded. They left the bike at the diner, and walked to the lab of the doctor. As usual, it felt like Soul entered another world when they reached the front gate Stein's house. With the patchwork building and the pointy branches that lined the path.

"Stein, open up." Spirit called as he knocked the door.

The only answer was the click signing the door being unlocked. Spirit walked through as if it was his own house, followed by Soul.

They found the doctor sitting behind his computer, typing away. His eyes were fixed to the screen like fireflies to light. "Oi, Stein," Spirit said and placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

Stein turned while lighting a cigarette. When he looked up he noticed Soul standing next to the Death Scythe. "Didn't know you'd bring company."

Soul scowled but Spirit stepped in before he could say something. "We crossed paths."

Stein checked the time. "At this hour? Seems rather unusual."

"I couldn't sleep okay," Soul interjected. "Had a nightmare so I went out."

"Ah yeah, nightmares. How are they doing?" Stein asked, suddenly sounding interested.

"Still the same. Always about Maka." That made Spirit turn to Soul but the boy ignored his worried frown.

"You know Soul," Stein suddenly said. "I was wondering. About the report you wrote about that fight." Soul tensed but nodded for Stein to continue. "You said you guys were in Soul Resonance when Maka gave her final blow on the witch."

"Yeah, so?"

"I wanted to know, were you still in Soul Resonance when she died?"

Soul frowned. "Not sure, I think so. Why?"

"Well that maybe explains the nightmares about her. You are still linked to her soul, you can't let her go."

The words stung Soul hard but there was a small part of him that agreed with the doctor's words. And he knew what was coming next. "If I want the nightmares to go away, I have to let her soul go, right?" Stein nodded somberly.

"I can't." Soul declared harshly, surprising the doctor and the Death Scythe.

"Soul -!" Spirit tried to reason but Soul interrupted him.

"No you don't understand. I loved her but then I lost her and there doesn't go a day by where I don't miss her. Yeah the nightmares suck but at least she's there with me. I don't want to loose that."

"I understand it. I loved her too," Spirit fired back. "She was my daughter Soul. I lost Kami and now her too. That hurts like a bitch. "But Soul, it has been ten months. We need to move on. You have to move on." He noticed how Soul's eyes – burning fierce just seconds ago – had turned dark with anger and hurt.

"I can't." Soul repeated himself before he turned and stomped out of the laboratory.

The two men watched the young scythe leave but neither made a move to follow him.

"He'll calm down soon enough." Stein assured. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I want to know more about the witch."

Stein nodded in understanding. He knew this was coming. "Her name's Meredith. She was a follower of Medusa. My guess is that she took all those souls to get the interest of Shinigami. And she succeeded. Of course he couldn't send a normal one star meister so he send Maka and the team. Which was fine for Meredith, now she could get a closer look on the team who'd destroyed her master."

"And when she had the chance to wound the team, she took it with both hands." Spirit finished. "An eye for an eye."

Stein nodded again. "But she underestimated Maka's strength though."

That made Spirit snap to attention. "So you say the rumor is true?"

Everyone had heard of the rumor. A young meister had put a piece of her soul in a witch to destroy her from the inside out. A heroic move that saved her team's life but cost her own.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Seeing how strong Maka was." Stein said. "She could summon Kishin Hunter when she was fifteen. You ought to be powerful if you can do that at such a young age, Spirit."

The red head nodded with a proud smile. "She took after her mother." He mumbled.

Soul was on his way back to the diner where he'd left his motorcycle. All the way he was mumbling curses to himself. What was he thinking, stomping off like that? Of course Spirit understood what he was going through. He lost his one and only daughter for fuck's sake.

Stupid pride that got in the way.

Lost in thought, he found his bike and got on it, ready to leave. But Soul stopped himself when he felt eyes on his back. He turned and saw a figure standing in an alley, looking at him.

"What the -!" he mumbled as he got off his bike. A small part of his brain told him to stop and go home. But the other one – the over powering reckless one – urged him to go in the alley.

As soon as he walked the alley in he felt like he left the city behind him. No footsteps, no birds, no wind, just this gut wrenching silence. He was alone. The figure had disappeared. Must've imagined it, Soul thought to himself. He was just about to leave when he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Soul fell to his knees, hacking. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten anything yet or else it would be sprawled out on the floor now.

"Soul Eater Evans?" A high voice asked.

Soul raised his head and saw a girl standing in front of him. She wore a robe with a hood, covering her body and a big portion of her face. But not enough.

Soul felt himself stagger back when he saw the violet eyes of the girl. The eyes of the witch. "You!" he gasped.

The girl smirked. "So you remember me? I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Of course I remember you," Soul growled, trying to get back on his feet. "You -!" his words got caught in his throat. A burning pain made its way through his body, making it impossible to talk.

The young witch giggled as she removed her hood, showing her face. Or what was left of it.

The skin seemed to be decaying, looking like it could fall off any moment. "Yes, it's me."

"How?" Soul managed to say before he doubled over.

"That little bitch of a meister did this to me," - The witch raised a gloved hand. "I'm falling apart because of that Grigori soul of hers. But that's okay, because you will pay for it."

Soul felt himself being thrown against the brick wall next to him. Pain soared through the left side of his body but he tried to fight it off. This was his chance, he couldn't screw it up.

Soul pushed himself from the wall and made his way to the witch, transforming his arm in a scythe. He didn't get far, for his legs suddenly stopped working on his command.

He stood there, frozen, the witch just out of hand reach from his scythe. "What the fuck!" Soul growled.

The witch giggled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Meredith, and your soul is mine."

Soul felt white heat bubbling up inside him when he heard her say Maka's signature line. But he couldn't do anything. His limbs refused to move.

The last thing he saw was Meredith walking up to him before darkness filled his mind.

***Hi there! Told you I'd post a long chapter? :p Sorry for the terrible dumb name for the witch... :s  
So tell me what you think... any theories about what is going to happen next? School won't start until next friday so I'll still be posting chapters but after that... I dunno, can't promise you anything yet :$**

**Have a nice day!***


	7. It's Time

"Hey Black*Star," Tsubaki whispered as they walked the school in. Their weekend had passed peacefully. They'd spend their saturday at the gym and sunday they went on a mission, which ended up as a succeed for a change. "Have you talked to Soul lately?"

Black*Star, who was walking next to his weapon, eyes closed, opened one eye to look at the girl. She seemed to be nervous. "Ah no, why?"

"Well usually he lets something hear from himself," Tsubaki explained. "I'm a little worried."

Black*Star smiled reassuringly at Tsubaki. "He won't do anything stupid Tsu, don't worry. He'll be fine."

Tsubaki nodded, trying to listen to her meister's advice. They made their way to the classroom and sat down. But they weren't even thirty minutes in class before they heard Stein call their names, together with Kid, Liz and Patti. "You are expected in the Death room. Shinigami wants to see you."

Confused, Tsubaki looked over to her meister. Black*Star looked worried as well, which caused a great feeling of unease in Tsubaki's stomach.

The team got up and left the classroom, feeling the curious eyes of their classmates on their back.

Once they were in the hallway they started to talk.

"Have any of you seen Soul?" Tsubaki asked. Everyone shook their heads.

Tsubaki frowned as they continued their walk to the Death room. Shinigami-sama was already waiting for them when they walked in.

"Hello, hi how ya doing?" The god asked with a bright voice.

"Why did we have to come?" Black*Star asked, not in the mood for the god's formalities.

"Ah yeah, it's about Soul."

That caught the team's attention. "What do you mean, it's about Soul?" Liz asked, wording everyone's thoughts.

"It appears he has gone missing." The kids – young adults, Shinigami realized – still looked confused. "Saturday morning Spirit Albarn came across Soul, they went to Stein but Soul left soon after a falling out. Apparently when Spirit left Stein's residence, he found Soul's motorcycle, keys still in the ignition. He called me soon after, feeling alarmed. They had been talking about the witch that killed Maka."

Alarm bells rang loudly inside Tsubaki's head. "You think - ?" she started but couldn't finish the sentence.

But Shinigami understood what the weapon wanted to say, and nodded, his bright spirit faltering a little. "We're not sure yet but we have to act like he's been taken by the witch."

"This can't be happening." Liz muttered with dismay. "We've already lost Maka because of that bitch. What more does she want from us?"

"We have to look for him." Black*Star announced and was already on his way to the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The blue haired ninja looked over and saw it was Kid.

"We shouldn't jump on this right away Black*Star," the junior death god said. "We're not sure if it is really her."

"Why else would Soul disappear?"

"Maybe he wanted to leave Death City." Kid suggested

"Why would he want that?"

Kid raised a brow. "Haven't you noticed how Soul was acting lately? How he was when we visited Maka's grave? He was completely off."

Black*Star frowned, trying to recall Soul's behavior that afternoon. He'd acted like he always did, right? But then he remembered Soul's empty eyes when he realized Maka was almost turning eighteen before the battle. He looked like he blamed himself for it but Black*Star had brushed it away when they started cleaning her grave.

Kid, noticing how Black*Star mentally answered his question, nodded somberly. "I can understand how Soul would want to leave this place. So much painful memories. Maybe he just needed a break."

"He'd tell us." Tsubaki protested. "We're his friends, we would support him."

"Admit it Tsubaki, ever since Maka's passing he hadn't been really open with us."

Tsubaki bit her lip. Though Kid's words were harsh, they were true and that stung. Soul had shut himself off from the group.

"Still," she said, determined. "We have to look for him."

"Great, now that that's settled, let's go!" Black*Star said and took off.

"I just hope he's doing okay," Liz mumbled as she followed the boy, Patti in tow.

Tsubaki, Death the Kid and Shinigami were left, all looking concerned.

"Do you really think Soul took off like that?" Tsubaki asked.

Kid shook his head. "I just didn't want them to believe that he'd fallen in the hands of the witch."

Tsubaki nodded. "Do you think -?"

Kid nodded before Tsubaki could finish her question. "I think it's time."

**To: Parisian devision**

**From: Death the Kid **

**Subject: We need you.**

**We believe that witch Meredith has taken Soul. Please come to us at once. We need you.**

The reply came five minutes after Kid had sent the original message. The group was scouting Death City for a trace of Soul. He called Tsubaki over to walk next to him as he opened the message. It was a two word reply.

**To: Death the Kid**

**From: Parisian devision**

**Subject: Re: We need you.**

**I'm coming.**

Death sighed and looked at Tsubaki, who looked worried at the screen. "Time to tell them, I guess."

_***Hey guys, I haven't noticed until now that this chapter was... weird looking. My deepest apologies for not fixing it sooner... I hadn't checked if it was okay /  
So I've uploaded again and I hope it's now working right!**_

_**New chapter will be up soon!**_


	8. Welcome back

Hands clutched skirt fabric nervously as eyes scanned the airport for anyone familiar. She found the familiar face of Sid, standing in the back. She walked up to him and bowed a little.

"Sid, what's the situation?" she asked, concerned.

Sid looked at the young woman, eyebrows knit together in a frown. "Still no trace. Kid and the team are scouting the city for traces."

The woman nodded. She should've figured. It took her six months to even find a trace of the witch.

"Let's go then," She said, confidently.

Sid nodded. A small smile slipped on his mouth. "Welcome back Maka Albarn."

Maka nodded. "It's good to be home."

"Guys, I need to tell you something." Kid said when they were back in Shibusen. Everyone was feeling down because they hadn't found anything that could lead them to Soul.

Black*Star, trying to keep the mood up, said, "No need to tell that you secretly worship me. I already knew that."

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki protested. "Not now."

The ninja frowned. Since when does Tsubaki protest against his antics? He looked at his weapon and saw her clutching her ponytail. What was going on?

"Ten months ago I made a decision that affected this team," Kid started, his voice solemn. "As you guys knew, Maka was in a pretty bad shape after the battle with witch Meredith. She lost a lot of blood, but the doctors were able to stabilize her."

Black*Star's mouth dropped in surprise. "What-?"

"Let me finish," Kid said. His voice not tolerating objections. "She was moved to a hospital in Boston, far from us, so she could recover. I asked my father and after getting permission, I got her transferred to our Parisian devision, getting a fake identity to which non of us had access to."

"She's alive?" Patti asked with disbelieve.

Kid looked away, not daring to look his team in the eye, and nodded. "As I said, I take full responsibility. If anyone has any issues, they should be directed towards me."

"Any issues?" Black*Star asked, starting to feel furious. He was about to jump on the man standing before him, weren't for the footsteps approaching them. Everyone turned and there she stood.

"Oh my god," Liz gasped.

Maka looked almost scared at her former team mates. She gave Kid and Tsubaki a nod, then her eyes went to Liz and the others.

Patti was the first to react. She ran over to Maka and threw her arms around the girl. "I missed you so much," she cried.

Maka wrapped her arms around her smaller friend. "I missed you too." She mumbled. "I'm so sorry." When she pulled back she was met by the disbelieving eyes of Black*Star. "I never wanted it to happen. I'm so sorry."

Maka walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't deserve it."

Black*Star was speechless. He just took his childhood friend in. She was real. She was alive. He should be happy but all he could feel was betrayal. "Why?" was all he could say.

"Maka needed to go in protection since the witch was still alive. It was too risky for her to stay with us." Kid answered. "Meredith wanted Maka dead because she killed Medusa."

"I'll explain everything but first I need to know what is going on with Soul." Maka promised. She walked over to Tsubaki and Kid, eyes filled with concern.

"We were unable to find anything Maka, I'm sorry." Tsubaki said dismayed.

"Can you still use your soul perception?" Liz asked.

Maka shook her head. "I lost a lot of power when I put a piece of my soul in the witch."

"What about the soul resonance?" a new voice asked.

Everyone turned and saw Stein standing in the doorway, looking seriously at Maka. "I – I don't know." she admitted.

"Soul thought you were still in resonance when you died," Stein made quote signs at the 'died' part. "Are you?"

Maka closed her eyes, trying to feel for a sign of Soul's wavelength. It was there, very weak but still there. She opened her eyes and nodded at the scientist. "I can feel him."

"Maybe you can use it to find him."

"I'll try." Maka promised. "But I don't have a weapon now. I'm still pretty useless."

"You do have a weapon." Spirit Albarn walked the room in, to his daughter. "I'm at your disposal."

"Papa," Maka whispered, surprised.

Spirit smiled a little, fighting the urge to pull his daughter in a bear hug. "We'll catch up later okay? Now we need to find your weapon."

Maka, though her eyes were watering, nodded. She hated to admit it but she kind of missed her father. Over the past couple of months she realized that her father did love her. He just didn't know how to express it.

"Ready?" Kid asked.

The team nodded and they left the Death room. Everyone except Black*Star.

Tsubaki noticed and stopped as well, turning to her meister. "Black*Star, are you coming?" she asked.

"You knew?" he asked, ignoring Tsubaki's question.

Tsubaki's mood fell in a black pit. "I'm sorry Black*Star."

"So that's why you were acting so nervous lately? Because you knew this was going to happen?"

Tsubaki nodded. "I heard you talking to Soul about the rumor. I knew things would go wrong anytime soon after that."

"And you couldn't tell me?" Black*Star yelled, letting the anger reach the surface.

Tsubaki flinched but nodded. She'd hated to lie to her partner. It felt like someone was peeling her skin off. "I'm so sorry Black*Star."

"If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at me." Kid's voice came from behind Tsubaki.

Black*Star looked up and saw him standing alone, looking solemnly back at him. "Like hell I am angry at you." he said. Tsubaki didn't have a choice. She was sworn to keep the secret. But him. "You could've told us! You should've trusted us!"

"It's not like I didn't trust you," Kid said. "It's more like I didn't want to risk the witch finding out that Maka was alive."

Black*Star growled and left the room. He couldn't be near Kid right now, for he knew he'd hurt him if he heard anymore of his shit.

Tsubaki looked like she was about to cry. "He hates me," she whispered when Black*Star was out of hearing reach.

Kid shook his head. "He doesn't, he's just really upset."

"What's the difference?"

"He doesn't hate you Tsubaki, he can't do that. He loves you too much for that."

Tsubaki looked at Kid. "I hope you're right."

Kid smiled a little. "Come on, the others need us.

Maka looked nervously around her. Where could he be? She thought anxiously.

She reached for the connection again and noticed it was still hanging on. In fact, it seemed to be a little stronger than moments ago.

"Maka," Spirit said from his weapon form, pulling Maka out of concentration. "Think logically, where could Meredith possibly hide Soul?"

"M-maybe she'd returned to her liar?" Maka suggested.

"Wouldn't that be a little too obvious?" Liz asked, also turned into weapon.

"It's not like she's got anywhere else to go."

"What about Medusa's hide out?" Black*Star suggested.

"Sounds logic, I mean, she was kind of obsessed with her." Spirit agreed.

"Medusa's liar it is." Kid decided.

The trip to the liar was quiet. Everyone was lost in their own thought. All Maka could think about was her partner. Was he okay? Was he hurt? How will he react when he sees her? Did he miss her like she missed him? Her thoughts were cut short when she heard someone scream. Soul!

"Maka?" Kid said, worried. He'd noticed the panicked look in the meister's eyes.

"Did you hear that?" Maka asked, looking around for the source of the scream.

"What? I didn't hear anything!" Black*Stair said. He was looking around, alarmed.

"It was Soul. I heard him scream."

"We're getting closer. Be prepared for ambushes." Kid said.

_***Finally the mystery e-mailer is revealed. Some may've seen it coming. I hope it wasn't TOO obvious. :3 Hope you like the chapter. Not sure yet when I'll update again.  
Stay cool!***_


	9. What is happening?

Soul felt himself move in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until he heard a voice call his name. "Soul! Wake up Soul."

Soul opened his eyes and found Maka bended over him. "Maka?" He asked in hoarse voice. He must be dreaming. But when Soul shook his head to clear it, she was still standing there. Green eyes looking extremely anxious back at him. "How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"You – you died."

Maka frowned. "What are you talking about? Look, there's no time for this. We're leaving this dump." She took his arm and started tugging on it.

Soul – dumbfound – stood up on his feet. He looked his meister over. She looked back at him, worried.

Before he could think about it, he pulled her in his arms. She smelled like strawberries, soap and sweat. He felt her chest rising and falling against his own. "You're alive." he mumbled.

Maka scoffed. "Well not for long if we stay here like a bunch of idiots. Come on Soul."

Soul ignored her. Carefully he pulled away as he drank the sight of emerald green eyes in. "Was it all a dream?"

Maka shook her head, to Soul's surprise. But before he could second guess it, he felt something stab him in the chest. He looked down and saw Maka holding the knife that was buried in him.

Maka was still looking at him, a twisted wide grin plastered on her face. "You know it is your fault that she's dead." she said in a sing song voice. "You said you'd protect her and yet you failed. You're a bad weapon!" Maka twisted the knife in Soul's body, black blood oozing out of the wound in fast portions. "Bad weapons don't deserve to live."

Soul watched how Maka's beautiful faced morphed into Meredith's. "You fucking -!" his words got caught in his throat when Meredith pulled the knife back.

"Stay nice!" Meredith chided.

"Like hell." Soul groaned.

Meredith started to walk around the young man. "You know, that whole Black Blood thing is quite something. You're so easy to torture now, without actually hurting you physically. You're mind is just messed up enough to do that."

So this wasn't real? Soul thought confused. This was all in his head?

Meredith nodded as if she could hear his thoughts. Which she probably did since they were in his head. "We're going to have some fun!" The woman said with a sadistic smile on her lips.

"Maka, watch out!" Spirt called from his weapon form as he was used to deflect a pre Kishin's attack.

Maka grunted, feeling the impact of the blow run through her body. It had been too long since she wielded a scythe, she realized. When she was in Paris she rarely went on missions. It didn't feel right to take another partner. So she spend her time looking for information and clues about Meredith.

Maka pounced at the Kishin, throwing the scythe's blade in it's face. It split in half before dissolving, leaving nothing but a red glowing orb behind.

"I think that's the last one." Spirit said.

"Better be." Maka huffed.

"Hanging in there kid?"

Maka saw her father looking worriedly at her from the reflection of his scythe. She nodded and started running after her team mates. They'd split up after running in a trap near Medusa's liar.

Maka found Black*Star battling three Pre Kishin's at once. When he caught sight of Maka he nudged his head to where Kid had gone to. "Find Soul." He shouted before he thrusted Chain Scythe into one the Kishins.

Maka obeyed after giving her friend one last glance. A single thought guided her through the maze of hallways. I'm coming for you_ Soul._

**_*Okay fuck I'm sorry for this crappy chapter. School has started again and I'm really busy. I'm working on a new chapter right now. Sorry again!*_**


	10. Fight or Flight?

What was real? What wasn't? Soul didn't know anymore.

'Maka' visited every now and then, cutting him open with her scythe arm, talking about the battle over and over. Soul didn't know what messed him up most, the physical or mental abuse.

"Soul," There she was again. Or at least, the foul image of her. "Soul! Your Maka is back!"

Soul grunted. "Don't you dare pretend you are Maka. You're nothing like my meister."

"Oh the loyalty is boundless. Even in death. It's almost touching." Maka appeared in Soul's field of vision. She wore a short, more revealing version of the dress Maka wore in the Black Room. When her gloved hand touched Soul, he felt a stinging pain run through him. "But I know what you really wanted."

Soul shuddered. "You don't know anything about me."

Maka shook her head. "You seem to forget we are in your head Soul. I know everything about you. Your memories, your feelings," She took another step to him. Her face only inches apart from his neck. "Your desires."

Soul kept quiet, not willing to give in. But he knew he was screwed.

"You wanted your meister to be yours. You were in love with her. But you didn't make a move on her because of her distrust in men." Maka tried to look Soul in the eye but the Scythe averted his gaze elsewhere. "Little did you know she was in love with you as well."

Soul's head snapped back. "Stop it." he growled. Don't go there, he begged. Don't give me these lies.

"I'm not lying pretty boy. Your meister was head over heels for you."

Soul's fight or flight instinct kicked in, this time choosing the fighting side. As far as he could fight from his restrains. "I swear to Death I will kill you."

Meredith/Maka seemed unimpressed. "Until then, want to watch a movie?" What the fuck?

A white screen rose from the floor, starting to show images and short videos of Maka, his Maka, when she was alive and happy and smiling.

And then Soul knew, the mental abuse was far more worse than the physical.

Maka wandered through the many hallways. Why this place again? She thought with gritted teeth. The memory of Crona dying in her arms flashed before her eyes but she didn't let it falter her steady pace. It only made her resolve on finding Soul stronger. I will not lose my weapon! Not again!

"Maka over here!" Death the Kid shouted.

Maka looked up and saw the young Shinigami crouched over something laying on the floor. When she joined him she felt blood leave her face. Blood.

Not normal blood. No, this was black blood. "Soul." she mumbled stunned.

"He shouldn't be far now. The blood is fresh." Kid said, ever so professional.

"Maka, stay focused."

Maka didn't know she was breathing heavy until her father pulled her out of her daze. Black blood was never a good thing. What was going on with Soul? Was he alright? Did the Red Demon take over? Or worse...?

"Maka!" Kid shook the younger meister a couple of times. "Your father's right, stay focused. You can't lose it now that Soul is so close."

Maka shook her head to clear it. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Kid nodded in understanding. "I know you're worried about him." He said ever so patiently. "We all are. But we will find him. We're so close now."

Maka nodded too. "Thanks Kid."

Kid gave her a little smile and the straightened up. The sound of running footsteps made the two turn around. Black*Star was catching up, big grin on his face.

"They stood no chance against a god like me!" he cheered when he joined Maka and Kid.

Maka couldn't help but chuckle. She couldn't believe she was thinking this – and would never admit it out loud to him – but she kind of missed Black*Star's shenanigans.

The team set their course, following the trail of blood. They reached a closed door, leading to the grand room where Medusa had taken hiding.

The door was closed and when Maka tried to slam it open with her shoulder, it didn't even budge.

"Move aside peasants." Black*Star said. He took a couple of steps back and then started to run to the door.

When he almost reached the door he jumped and threw his full body weight in it. At first it didn't look like it was any use, but then cracks started to form in the door.

Soon it crumbled apart, ending as a pile of rubble on the floor.

The team – Maka and Kid in person and Spirit and the Thompson sisters from their weapon form – looked with amazement at the ninja. Tsubaki – still in her weapon form – beamed with pride.

"Oh don't act so surprised!" Black*Star shouted and then took off.

Maka and Kid followed suit.

******************************************************************  
Holy crap this took me forever! I'm so sorry! I'm very busy with my new school and my job... I hope it'll get better very soon. Thank you for sticking around and I hope I'll post a new chapter very soon.  
Let me know what you think about it!**


	11. Meet Again

The first thing Maka noticed when she entered the room was the stench. It smelled like rotting flesh.

Then she saw Soul, sprawled on the floor, covered by a toxic green haze.

"Soul!" Maka gasped and was about to jump at her ex-partner, weren't it for Black*Star. The ninja grabbed his fellow meister by the arm, pulling her back. "Black*Star what the -?"

"In case you've missed the curse that covers Soul, there's a curse that covers Soul." Black*Star deadpanned.

Maka scowled but stepped back. "Do you have a different plan?"

"Soul's under some kind of possession, in order to break it, we must sever the connection between him and Meredith."

"Finding Meredith it is."

"Looking for someone?" The voice of witch Meredith made the team turn around.

Maka gripped Spirit tighter. "Finally!"

Meredith's eyes met the meister's. Immediately there fell a frown on the woman's voice. "Sou you survived after all?"

"I wouldn't be able to do my handy trick if I wasn't." Maka sneered, though she didn't feel brave at all. Only her insides twist and turn. After ten months she finally met face to face with the person that destroyed her peaceful life. Would she be able to kill her? Even if the witch was weakened, she had lost some of her own powers too. Besides, could she resonate with her father if it was necessary?

"You little bitch!" Meredith raised her hand, a green ball of electricity formed from her palm, and aimed at Maka.

Maka froze in fear but she got pulled out of it when Black*Star kicked her out of the daze, literally. She fell on the ground disorientated, while Black*Star pounced on the witch.

"Maka get up!" Kid shouted while he started firing bullets at Meredith.

Maka climbed back on her feet, eyes focused on the witch. The woman – despite her decaying form – dodged away from Black*Star's attacks.

_There must be a way to get a hit on her!_ She thought to herself. _Concentrate damn it!_

And then she noticed. Her back. It was open, ready for Maka to attack. She jumped at her, swinging Spirit at her open back but just when she was about to hit her, the witch turned and thrusted her fist in the meister's stomach.

Maka fell back, gasping for breath. "Fuck," she grunted out.

"Maka!" Spirit shouted.

"I'm fine." Maka stumbled on her feet, leaning heavily on her father. "Just - !" Maka's words got cut off by a sharp pain running through her body. She fell back on the ground, limbs spasming and twitching.

"Maka!" Kid shouted.

Then her world turned black.

Soul had been alone for ten minutes now. He could hear a fight going on from a distance. People shouting, metal meeting metal and then an all too familiar scream. _Maka?_

Footsteps approached him and Soul immediately tensed up in his restraints. But to his surprise, the Black Room started changing. Its walls started to shine a bright blue light before they completely became white. His handcuffs melted away, making him drop like dead weight on the ground.

Soul grunted. "Son of a-"

"Soul?" Maka called. _No! Please not again!_

And there she was, long black dress, black ribbons, disorientated green emeralds. She looked like the original Maka, the one he loved, but that couldn't be.

The woman in Maka's form ran up to Soul, trying to let him sit against the wall. "Soul? Soul can you hear me?"

Soul – though feeling weak because of his injuries – managed to bear his teeth at the intruder. "Get the fuck away."

Maka staggered back from him. "Soul, what happened to you?" she asked. "What did she do to you?"

"Stop fucking around. I know it's you."

Maka's eyes dropped. "I'm so sorry Soul. For all what happened." she whispered. She reached her hand out to his face but Soul flinched away. Still, Maka continued as if she didn't notice. "I'll fix it Soul. I'll make sure everything will be okay."

Soul's heart ached at her words. Oh how he wished she was real. That her words could be true. But this was all in his head.

"I'm getting us out of here." But before Maka could do anything, she got thrown away from Soul.

"Maka!" He couldn't help but shout.

Maka groaned and rubbed the back of her head. "I'm okay. Don't worry... about me."

Soul wanted to go after her, to make sure she was okay – after all, the instinct of protecting his meister never faded, even if she was just a projection of his subconscious – but was stopped by a force pressing him against the wall.

"Well isn't this touching?" Meredith's voice called from the dark. "A little reunion."

"You son of a-!" Soul groaned.

Meredith walked up to Maka, poking her in the ribs with the tip of her shoe. Maka flinched. "So you decided to pay your weapon a little visit?"

"You won't get away with this. I'll make you pay for what you've done to Soul."

Meredith broke out in laughter. Uncontrollable, hysterical laughter. "And how? You've lost a lot of power when you decided to pull that stunt off."

Maka got up on her hands and knees, wiping blood from her lips. "You don't know I'm capable of." she whispered before she pounced at the witch.

**_*sweats nervously while posting this chapter* for two reasons:  
_1: I've appearently posted chapter ten again as chapter 11... which is really dumb of me for not checking... (thanks vXxBlackRabbitXv and ashleyslife for letting me know)  
And 2 for not updating any sooner because hot damn, it has been long. There has been some shit going on... But thank you for sticking around and I hope you liked this chapter.  
I'm just busy writing the next one ^_^  
Let me know what you think about it and I hope to see you soon!**


	12. Battles (ultra short chapter, I'm sorry)

Maka nailed Meredith to the ground and punched the woman in the face. It may not have done what she hoped to – which meant knocking her completely out – but it did stun her for a moment, giving her time to search for her soul in the witch.

It flickered back at her and for a moment Maka felt complete again. Then the moment got shattered into a million pieces when Meredith threw her back.

Black*Star lost count at how many attacks he had thrown at the witch. And how many times he'd missed.

_For an old rotting witch she's quite tough._ The ninja thought through gritted teeth.

He checked on Maka for a second. She was laying on the ground, unconscious.

When Maka had collapsed no one of the team knew what to do. Spirit had transformed back to his human form and tried to wake his daughter but it was no use.

Then a blue glow – similar to Soul's green haze – had started to form around her body as if it was a shield.

From then on, Meredith had tried to get near Maka but Black*Star, Kid and Spirit had managed to prevent it from happening. They fired their attacks on the decaying woman and though it did not do much damage, it did keep her from reaching Maka. For now that seemed to be good enough, if only Maka would wake up.

Black*Star's attention got pulled back when he heard someone scream. It was the witch.

Meredith was doubled over on the ground, breathing heavily while looking anxiously from Kid to Black*Star and then Spirit.

The old man was standing in a fighting pose, his arm transformed in a scythe.

Black*Star couldn't help but think of Soul when he saw the familiar pose. How many times had he seen his friend stand like that to protect Maka?

_Soul better be alright or I'll kick his ass! _The ninja thought.

Meredith shrieked again and made another attempt to go for Maka, throwing herself at the unconscious girl but was stopped by Kid, firing a stream of bullets at her.

Black*Star – seeing an opportunity for an attack – ran up to the slowed down witch. While running he shouted for Tsubaki to activate the Speed Star ability. After a confirmation from the weapon Black*Star lashed out to Meredith with Tsubaki, moving swiftly around his target in incredible speed to hit her multiple times.

"I will have your soul!" Maka said, determined. "If it is the last thing I'll do."

"I can fix that." Meredith smirked, though it was clear to see that she was worried.

Maka had called out to her soul whenever she was close enough, giving Meredith immense pain. The shard of soul wanted to be reunited with its owner and it seemed like it would break through her body to reach it. Meredith was nearing her end and both she and the meister knew it.

But the task of calling out to her soul did take a tole on Maka. She was running out of energy. If only she had her weapon. Then this could be over in a minute.

Maka shot a look at Soul. Meredith had released him because she was too busy dodging Maka's hits. He was laying on the floor, barely conscious. Could he even get unconscious since they were already in his head? Maka wondered.

Long time to think about it wasn't there since Meredith started to advance on her.

_I have to try. _Maka thought when she jumped away from the witch. "Soul!" Soul's head raised a couple of inches. "I know you don't believe I'm real. I don't care. I just want to get you out of me. So please, transform and we can end this."

Maka's words seemed to spark something in Soul's eyes as he slowly raised himself to his knees.

Maka saw how he bared his teeth in a wild grin before his form changed into an all to familiar black and red scythe. He flew at her and Maka caught him easily, as if they had never been separated.

Maka found herself smirking too, for she knew things finally would turn for the better.

***Short chapter is short... sorry but I'm kind of getting stuck with the story... I hope I can let Soul and Maka back in the normal world in the next chap and I think after that, things will go better. I'm strangely looking forward to writing angst (don't hate me). Thank you for the sweet reviews, I'll try my best to write a new chapter. Stay cool***


	13. Waking Up

It felt too good. Even if she wasn't real, he liked to pretend that it was. Maka was wielding him, parrying attacks and throwing him at the witch. And they were strong as ever. The woman got forced back against the wall when Maka threw one particular forceful punch at her, right in the chest. A white light emerged from Meredith's body, shrieks rose from her throat and she started thrashing against the wall.  
And then it was suddenly over.  
A final, "Soul," called after him before he felt himself being yanked away from Maka's hands.

There were hands on his body, concerned murmurs, the familiar steady beeps of a heart monitor  
"Is he okay? Is he alive?" He suddenly heard Maka ask from a distance. Her voice was panicked and worried. Still dreaming huh? Soul thought bitterly.  
"Maka you have to stay back."  
"I need to know if he's alive Kid!"  
Kid? What was Kid doing in his dreams?  
"Maka you're bleeding, starving and barely standing straight. You need to rest."  
Soul heard a door slam open and a strangled cry. "No!"  
"Maka," Kid's voice joined. "He's alive. The witch took a lot of energy from him, he was tortured, he needs time to heal."  
"Just give me a few Kid. I'll be gone in a minute. Please."  
Soul could hear Kid sigh before he spoke again, "Fine. Ten minutes, I can't give you more." The footsteps and a door closing before complete silence. A hand touched his cheek and he immediately knew it was hers. Warm, comforting. For one second he thought he felt a flicker of her soul calling out to him but that couldn't be. Right?  
Soul tried to open his eyes. A strip of light came into vision before his eyes started adjusting to its surroundings. A blonde haired head was resting on his chest, strange sobbing noises coming from it before he realized it was crying. Not it. She. "Maka?" he groaned. His mouth felt like it had been filled with cotton balls.  
The head flew up, green orbs meeting his. They were filled to the brim with tears, wide in surprise. "Soul?"  
No this couldn't be. There was no way his meister would be sitting next to him, saying his name. Had his brain gone to scrambled eggs?  
"Soul?" Maka repeated, now sounding worried.  
He didn't realize until now that he had started shaking violently. "This can't be." he whispered. "You can't be her. You're not my Maka."  
"Soul please-" Maka took a step to her weapon.  
"No, fuck off!" Soul growled. He didn't know where he found the energy but he was pushing himself up on the bed. His eyes were focused on the woman that looked like the Maka he knew.  
"Soul what are you-?"  
Soul jumped up and pushed the confused meister to the wall. One hand was around her throat, the other pulled back, transformed in a scythe. Maka whimpered but didn't cry for help. Not until Soul started tightening his grip on her throat.  
And as soon as she did, the door got thrown open and Black*Star was standing in the doorway. "Soul what the fuck are you doing!" he shouted when he got a hold of the situation.  
Maka was lifted a couple of inches from the floor, clutching at Soul's hand that was holding her.  
Black*Star jumped at the weapon and threw him back to the other side of the room.  
"No don't hurt him!" Maka whimpered, gasping for breath. "He doesn't understand."  
"Black*Star what the hell?" Soul shouted. The throw hadn't hurt him much. He was still on his feet but he felt the familiar sting of stitches tugging on his skin.  
He just hoped Stein hadn't been fixing him up. One scar was enough.  
"I did this for your own good." Black*Star replied. His voice was steady and serious though his eyes pleaded for Soul to believe him.  
"Have you gone insane? This isn't Maka! This is a trap. A trick and you're falling for it. This can't be Maka! She died. She is dead." Soul had gone in a state of hysteria. He was confused and hurting all over. This isn't Maka, he told himself, she can't be her. This is some sick joke of the Oni.  
"Black*Star what is going on?" Kid asked, joining the two meisters and the weapon in the hospital room. "I heard shouting and -!"  
"Kid what is going on? What is this?" Soul pointed at Maka.  
"Soul, you need to calm down."  
"Why are you all telling me to calm down? Can't you see that she isn't real. This can't be Maka!"  
"Soul please!"  
But Soul couldn't take it anymore. He felt his vision blur, the stitches had gone open and he was bleeding again. Dizziness taking over, he started to collapse.  
Two pair of hands caught him and he heard Kid shout for a doctor. Maka's shocked face was the last thing he saw.

He didn't think she was real. The words filled her head like a mantra, mocking her.  
Maka felt like losing her insanity. Or maybe she already had.  
After she had destroyed Meredith she got thrown out of Soul's Black Room, finding herself on the ground near Soul. The first thing she'd done was check on her weapon. He was unconscious and barely breathing. Maka had desperately cried for Black*Star while Kid and Spirit dealt with the witch. Not like that was needed. Meredith's life form had died with the one in Soul's head. She was nothing but a glowing red orb hovering over the ground. Next to it was another soul, though incredibly smaller and blue. Maka's missing shard.  
It had drifted back to her, entering her through her chest and she had immediately lost consciousness.  
When she woke up she was in a hospital bed. Bandages covered most of her limbs and there was a heart monitor hooked to her body. Spirit was sitting in the corner of the room, asleep.  
He woke to the sound of loud quick beeps from the heart monitor and for one moment he thought his daughter was slipping away. Though when he opened his eyes he saw that Maka had pulled the clip from her finger that measured her heartbeat. "Maka what are you doing?"  
"I need to see him." Maka said as she threw her legs out of bed. As soon as she touched the cold floor, she felt her legs shake. Crap, how long had she been out?  
"Four days." Spirit answered. Maka hadn't realized she'd spoken her thoughts out loud.  
"So long? What happened? Where's Soul? Is he okay?"  
"Soul's okay. He's still unconscious but stable. The doctors say it shouldn't be long until he wakes up."  
"I have to see him." Maka took a couple of wobbly steps to the door  
Maka you can't be serious. You've just woken up yourself. You need to rest. It's not wise to exhaust your body."  
"I'm not exhausting anything papa. I just need to get to Soul."  
A hand stopped Maka from going any further. Spirit was standing behind his daughter, a look of worry in his eyes. It made Maka immediately anxious. Her papa was holding something from her. "What?"  
"Soul might not believe you are real. He still thinks he lost you in your first battle with Meredith."  
"He'll know it's me." Maka said stubbornly and then left the room.  
Boy had she been wrong.

Maka touched her throat. She could still feel his fingers on the hot skin when he'd nearly chocked her.  
"Maka!" Tsubaki called though the hallway. The meister raised her head and was met by the warm embrace of the taller weapon. "I'm so happy you're okay!"  
"He doesn't think I'm real." Maka only whispered.  
Tsubaki stiffened. "What do you mean?"  
"Soul, he still thinks I'm dead. When he woke up, he looked like he saw a ghost. But when I tried to talk to him he went mad and he – he tried to -" Maka couldn't finish the sentence for she broke down in tears.  
Tsubaki held the meister close, trying to assure her that it would be okay. That they'd figure it out. But she wasn't so sure herself.  
What she did know was that this was going to be a rough period for the whole team.

***Wow another chapter this week! And it's long! Have I gone mad? No, my internet was sucking ass so that left me time to work on this /I'm sorry that I didn't really get into the whole defeating-Meredith part but I suck at writing fight scenes... doing this was already a pain. I hope you'll forgive /So, let the angst and shizzle begin... I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope I'll update soon.***


	14. Truth is out

"Soul? Can you hear me?"

"Fuck off."

"I take that as a yes."

Soul groaned. What could Kid possibly want from him? Didn't he deserve some time off for all the crap he'd been through? "What?"

"We need to talk."

"Don't want to. Go away."

"It's about Maka."

If Soul was a dog, his ears would've twitched in attention. But since he wasn't, he just opened one eye, looking the young Shinigami over. "What could there possibly be said about her? She's dead, for almost a year now." Kid was already shaking his head before Soul had finished the sentence. "What?"

"I need to tell you something. You'll not going to like it but you have to hear me out." Soul tensed up but nodded. Kid took a deep sigh. This was going to be hard but he guessed he deserved it. After all, coming up with such an intricate lie would have consequences. "When Maka was in surgery after your battle with Meredith, she managed to hang on."

"What?"

Kid continued as if he didn't hear the scythe. "The doctors were able to stabilize her. She got transferred to Boston to recover."

"Wait, hold on, so you say-!"

"I got her moved to Paris so she would be safe from Meredith. Maka was only allowed to contact Tsubaki or me."

"Kid are you for real?" Soul shouted. "Maka was alive. And you kept her away from me? From us, your friends? How could you?"

"Soul listen -"

"No you listen. Do you have any idea how fucked up we were when Maka was gone? How fucked up I was? Did it even occur to you what you might've done to us when you came of with this stupid idea?"

"I was well aware of it Soul," Kid replied ever so calmly. "But did you want Maka to be in danger?"

"I would've protected her with my damn life and you know it."

"But would that be enough? You were a witness to Meredith's powers Soul, we all were. You wouldn't be able to protect her. Not on your own."

Soul scowled, hating the idea that Kid was right. That he wouldn't stand a chance against Meredith. "It was still a fucked up plan Kid."

"I know. And I'm sorry but it was for Maka's own good."

A thought snapped into Soul's mind, startling him. "But if Maka is still alive, does that mean-?" Kid nodded sorrowfully. "Fuck!" He tried to kill his meister! What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Soul, you didn't know."

"I should've know. She's my meister for Death's sake!"

"Your Soul connection has gone haywire."

Before Soul could fire a reply back there was a knock. "Come in." Kid called.

The door opened and it was Liz to Soul's surprise, dismay relief, he didn't know what to feel about anything for the moment.

"Liz," Kid said gently.

The weapon eyed her meister first, then Soul, nervously. "Is everything okay? I heard what happened with-"

"We're fine." Soul interrupted.

"Sis! Is Soulie okay?" Patti asked and appeared in the doorway too.

"We're fine. I'm fine. Now get the fuck out!" Soul wasn't in the mood for his over protective friends. He still had to process the whole Maka-is-still-alive idea.

Patti pouted. "Sowwy Soul. We'll leave you alone now. Do you want something?"

"I just want to be left alone."

The Thompson sister quickly left the room, scared for the weapon's rage. Kid followed them a little slower. Before he left, he looked Soul over. "I am not regretting my choice Soul," he said. "Maka is still alive, that's all what matters."

Then he closed the door behind him and Soul was all alone.

Maka was sitting in the hospital cafeteria, staring at the too bright white table. She'd fucked up.

She should've refused Kid's offer(?) to go to Paris for protective custody.

"Maka?" The meister looked up, only to be met by her father's pitiful eyes.

"You were right papa. He didn't think I was real."

"I'm sorry pumpkin."

Maka shook her head. "I should've known better. I was just too naive to believe it."

"He'll come around. Kid has been talking with him. The truth is out."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing." Maka mumbled, more to herself than her father. "Maybe I just should've left when Meredith was destroyed. Gone back to Paris or whatever. I messed everyone's life up."

"Don't say that Maka."

Maka raised her head. Her eyes were burning and there was rage running through her veins. "Well didn't I? Black*Star can't even look me in the eyes, Liz and Patti don't know what to do and Soul – he tried to kill me papa! The only people who are doing fine are Kid and Tsu. Well they'd still be fine if I left."

"It's all just a phase. They'll turn around."

"But it'll never be the same as it used to, papa. Never."

Spirit went quiet at his daughter's words, knowing she was right. But it wouldn't do the group any good if she left again. "Don't leave."

"I don't want to but I see no other choice."

"Since when does my daughter back away from tough situations?"

Maka's face fell. "I'm sorry to let you down papa." She stood up and was about to leave, wasn't it for her father's grasp on her wrist.

"Stay. Even if it's just for a while," Spirit pleaded. "Let them get used to you. If it doesn't get any better, you can leave. But please, at least give them a chance."

Maka swallowed hard. Her father was right. "Fine." she whispered. "But I'll find my own place in Death City. I will not unnecessarily interfere with their lives."

"That's all I'm asking."

**A/N **I. Am. Back.

Holy crap that has been a long time! I am so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter... and I am not very happy with it but I hope you think it's not (that) bad. Working on a new chapter. thank you for sticking around 3


	15. Getting back

It had been two weeks since the accident between Soul and Maka.

The meister was released four days after the incident and she'd immediately started looking for an apartment on her own. It stung to realize she was all alone again.

She found one near the academy. It was small – smaller than the one she shared with Soul – but it was enough. It wasn't like Maka had very much. All of her belongs were either in Paris or still at Soul's apartment.

She got some things – kitchen necessity's, a bed, some clothes – from Tsubaki and the the Thompson sisters. They all helped her out settling in while the boys were busy with Soul.

He was still in the hospital and refused to talk to anyone.

"Soul, answer your god!" Black*Star shouted and banged on the closed door. "This is ridiculous. You have to talk to us someday!"

Soul, who was sitting in the windowsill of his room, shook his head. Why was everyone so okay with Maka being back? He thought confused. Did they forget that they were being lied to?

Soul sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Just leave me alone Black*Star!" It was not fair to lash out to his best friend but he didn't care.

He was too stuck up in his own problems to care about the others. Though he hated to admit it, he missed Maka. Now that he knew she was alive she only seemed more out of reach.

"Soul?" This time it was Tsubaki. "Can we talk? Please, I worry about you."

Soul gritted his teeth. The last thing he wanted was making Tsubaki worried. The demon weapon didn't deserve that. He got out of the windowsill and opened the door. "Come in Tsu." he mumbled.

Tsubaki smiled brightly as she entered the room. There seemed no trace of Black*Star. Tsubaki must've send him away.

"What do you want to talk about?" Soul asked, getting straight to business.

Tsubaki sat down on Soul's unmade bed, smoothing some wrinkles down. "I'm sorry for what happened Soul." she mumbled

"Not your fault." Soul muttered.

"I should've told you. Kid should've trusted you to tell about Maka. You're her weapon after all."

"Well it's not like we can do something about it now, can we?"

Tsubaki cringed. Just a little but enough for Soul to notice. The scythe rubbed the back of his head, feeling the stress knot up in the nape of his neck, and shot a look at his fellow weapon. "Let's change the subject," he tried. "How are things at the academy? Have classes started again?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "Summer break remember?"

"Oh yeah right-!" So much for starting a conversation.

Just as Soul was looking for another topic to talk about, Tsubaki started talking. "When are you getting released?"

"Should be any day now. Why?"

"Kid wants to throw a little gathering. A reunion. It's been a while since we've all gathered together." Soul noticed how Tsubaki almost whispered those last words.

The young man shook his head. "Not sure if that's a good idea."

"Please Soul. It'll be alright. No one but Spartoi. Just nice food and some music. I promise we won't make a big deal out of it." Tsubaki pleaded.

"Will Maka -?" Soul started. The demon weapon's eyes fell a little.

"She wasn't sure yet."

"Oh okay... well I'll consider it."

"Thank you Soul." the girl sounded sincere.

Soul gave her a little smile. "It's cool Tsu."

The two weapons talked about some trivial things before Tsubaki left, saying she had to get back to make dinner for Black*Star.

"Call us when you get released." She said while pulling her coat on.

Soul smiled a little. "I will." he promised.

Soft knocks woke Maka from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, taking her surrounding in.

For one second she was confused – this wasn't the apartment of Soul and her! - before she remembered where she was. Her new, single apartment.

Another series of knocks pulled Maka out of her thoughts. She jumped out of bed and made her way to the front door. When she opened she saw it was Patti and Liz.

"Nice PJ's," the older sister commented, amused.

Maka looked down and blushed. The meister was dressed in white t-shirt with blue colored souls and black shorts. "Shuddup." she mumbled as she opened the door wide for the sisters.

"I think they're cute." Patti chimed.

"You think everything's cute," Liz whispered.

Maka smiled. The three girls moved to the kitchen and Maka made coffee. "Why are you guys here?" she wanted to know.

"We want to know if you're going to the party?"

"Party?"

"Kid's reunion party. It's this saturday." Liz explained.

Maka hesitated. "So I guess Soul's finally discharged from the hospital."

The Thompson sisters nodded, the younger much more enthusiastic than her older sibling. "Soul is doing a lot better."

"That's good to hear." Maka whispered.

"So are you going to come?" Patti wanted to know.

"I euhm – not sure yet."

"Come on Maka! It will be fun!"

Maka chewed on her bottom lip. She sure wanted to see the other members of Spartoi but going to the party meant facing Soul. And after what happened at the hospital she was kind of wary to see him again.

"Maka," Liz whispered, waking the scythe meister out of her thoughts. "Is this about Soul?"

Reluctantly she nodded. She hated feeling like a coward but she had to get it off her chest. "I'm just kind of scared for his reaction. He was so angry and confused when he first saw me. I don't want to trigger another attack again. I don't want to hurt him anymore."

Liz put a hand on Maka's shoulder. "I'm sure it will be okay. You have to face him someday."

Maka nodded again. "Guess you're right."

"Big sis is always right!" Patti cheered.

**I think I'm just gonna stop making promises I can't keep... saves me a lot of guild feeling...  
Sorry that it's going a little slow right now... not sure where I want to go with this story yet...**

**But I hope this wasn't all that terrible.  
Thanks for sticking around. Each and everyone who's following/reading this, is amazing and I am very grateful... sorry that I suck at having discipline. /**


	16. A little like it used to be

**Hey it's been a while... I wanted to have a little light chapter... my kiddies have been through enough crap for now... so have a little fluff...**

The sisters stayed for another two hours, catching up and eating breakfast.

Maka was happy to talk with them. It had been too long and she'd been very lonely in Paris.

"So Maka? How were the guys in Paris? Is it true that they are the most romantic ones in Europe?" Liz wanted to know, quirking an eyebrow.

Maka flustered. "Ah – I'm not really sure." Maka mumbled.

"What do you mean, you don't know? You walked around there right? Didn't you meet up with some hot French meisters?"

Maka shook her head. "I wasn't really paying attention to them." She didn't add that her attention was at a certain demon weapon.

"That's just sad."

The meister shrugged. "I wasn't planning on staying there for long. Why settling with someone?"

"Well where did you want to go?"

Maka bit her bottom lip. "I was considering going to Japan. You know, getting back to my roots. But then Kid and Tsu send me the message and everything went to hell after that."

The Thompson sisters flinched at the meister's harsh words. "Well, you can always go there later." Patti suggested. "Maybe when you're on a mission."

Maka shook her head. "I can't get on a mission. I don't have a weapon."

"Well maybe S-"

"I don't think Soul will want to partner up with me. Not after all the things that'd happened."

Patti pouted. "Don't say that Maka! Soul misses you. I'm sure he'll want to get back to you."

"You make it sound like they're in a relationship." Liz commented dry.

"Well they kind of are right?"

While the girls started bickering about the relationship between Maka and Soul, the meister started giving herself face palms. "Look, guys, you don't see the point." She interrupted when she had enough of the girl's discussion. "It's safe to say that I won't have a partner. And I refuse to take another partner."

Liz gave the meister a sympathetic look. "We're sorry Maka. We'll stop about it."

"Thanks." Maka got up from her seat and started doing the dishes.

"So, what are the plans for today?" Liz asked, changing the subject to something lighter.

"Let's go shopping!" Patti suggested.

"Good idea! We need to get something nice for Maka to wear to the party."

"Excuse me!" Maka protested. "I'm standing right here."

The sisters turned to the meister, both smiling in a way Maka could only describe as disturbing. "Oh you are coming," Patti said, wringing her hands together. "Even if we have to force you."

"And besides," Liz joined, though more normal. "You don't really have something in the closet to wear to a formal party."

"I thought Kid said it would be casual!" Maka protested.

"There's nothing wrong with dressing up a little."

And before Maka could protest some more, she got grabbed by the arms by Patti and dragged out of the apartment, following by Liz carrying their bags and smiling, highly amused.

"This looks nice," Liz whispered to her sister. There were standing at a rack filled with dresses.

Maka, standing on the side lines, fidgeted nervously around. She never was a fan of shopping, let alone for dresses!

"Maka." The voice of Black*Star made the meister look up.

Black*Star was walking the formal clothing store in, followed by Kid and... Soul.

"Hi Black*Star." Liz greeted. "What do you think of this." The demon gun pulled a lavender dress out and held it in front of the meister.

"Bit small on you don't you think?" Black*Star asked.

Liz grimaced. "It's not for me. It's for Maka!"

"Than it is a bit big. Maka doesn't have a big enough rack to fit in."

That got him a Maka Chop right in the skull. Maka was fuming, was everybody talking about her like she wasn't there?

Patti was laughing her butt off while the others – excluding Black*Star – were chuckling softly. Even Soul.

Maka dared to shoot a look at him. He looked like he hadn't slept in quite a while.

And as if the demon weapon knew she was looking at him, he looked up and met her gaze. Maka felt a stab in her heart when she saw the flash of hurt – and fear? - in his eyes.

She dropped her gaze, clenching her fist. _I'm sorry Soul. I never wanted this to happen._

To her surprise she felt a small tug on her soul. Maka looked up again, for she knew where the tug came from, and was yet again met by burning red eyes. Soul gave her a small – though sad – smile, nodding in assurance, before he turned away. Following his friends who'd gone for the man section.

"Maka! We found the perfect dress!" Liz cheered.

Maka shook the small sparkle of hope away and turned back to her girl friends.

Liz was holding a little black dress. The piece was off the shoulders and the top was covered with black lace. "Try in on!" Liz encouraged. "I bet it'll look great!"

Maka smiled. She knew what her friend was doing. Trying to keep her spirits up. And so Maka decided to not let Liz's efforts go to waste. She plastered a wide smile on her face and took the dress.

Four hours, two coffee stops and one delicious lunch later, the meister stumbled back into her apartment. She bought the dress, and more necessities. Like a pair of normal freaking jeans and some shirts. She even brought a toaster since she didn't have that in the kitchen.

With a content sigh she dropped the bags on the couch and walked to the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror she smiled at her reflection.

This was her.

Maka Albarn, two star meister, risen from the dead and a little broken.

She wouldn't want it any other way.

**Quick note: here's the link to Maka's dress: media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/d/r/dresses-lace-splicing-off-shoulder-little-black-dress-006367_ **

**I suck at describing clothes... ^_^'**

**So I hope you liked the chapter! thanks for sticking around. I love you guys! 3**


	17. You're back to me

Soul walked the apartment in, dumping his keys on the kitchen counter as he was on his way to his room.

He'd seen her today. Maka.

He didn't know what to feel about it. About her. Confusion? Betrayal? Want? Yeah probably those three. Mixed into one fucked up cocktail that was his feelings.

She hadn't changed much now that Soul thought about it. Even her hair was still tied in pigtails. Oh how he wanted to touch those gold strands. Just to get a little grasp on her.

"Come on Soul," the weapon muttered to himself. "Get yourself together."

His mind flew himself back at the moment their eyes met. She'd looked scared. Of what? Him? Well that did make sense, considering he'd tried to kill her two weeks ago.

A pang went through his chest. He'd never meant to scare her. Far from that, he wanted to hug her, hold her close to himself, kiss her... _whoa brain, stop it right there!_

Soul rubbed his face. He needed something to distract his brain from his meister. They'd see each other soon enough. At the reunion party. Right?

Maka had been dress shopping with the Thompson sisters so that must mean she was coming.

Soul sighed as he reached for his headphones. Maybe music would distract his overactive brain.

"Soul? Soul are you there?" Shinigami's voice woke Soul from his music.

The weapon stumbled out of bed and walked to the bathroom where his boss was waiting for him. "'Sup?" he asked, head spinning from getting up too fast.

"Ah there you are." The lord of the dead was seemed to be a little on edge. It made Soul feel uneasy. "I want to know something"

"Okay sure. Shoot."

"It's about Maka." Soul straightened up. "Are you two getting back together as a team?"

The question surprised Soul a little. He slouched noticeably. "Don't know. Why don't you ask her?"

"Well since this situation is a little more... complicated than the usual I thought I should ask you."

"Oh yeah sure..." Soul thought about the question. "I'll talk about it with Maka at the reunion. She has the right to have a say in this."

"Of course Soul, if that's what you want. Well, I hope to see you soon."

"Goodbye Shinigami." The weapon said politely.

Once the god of death disappeared from the mirror, Soul left a sigh. Well, another thing to add on the list he has to talk about with Maka. Great.

Soul threw himself back on his bed. Too many thoughts were running in his head. He quickly found his escape through sleep.

_Soul was standing in the Black Room but he was not alone. He saw his meister sitting at the piano._

_The girl was absently tapping away at the ivory keys._

"_Maka."_

_Maka looked over her shoulder. When she saw Soul standing, she gave him a little smile. "Hello Soul."_

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_Your soul called out to me. Didn't give me much of a choice. You were quite insistent Soul."_

_Soul felt his cheeks heat up. "Oh, yeah sorry. I wasn't aware."_

"_That's because you didn't."_

_Soul and Maka looked up from the new voice that joined them. The familiar figure of the red demon was standing next to the record player. "Oni!" Maka said surprised._

"_It's nice to see you too meister Maka."_

"_You've grown."_

"_Ah yes, it seems that your – absence has given me the ability to grow."_

_Maka flinched at the demon's words. Soul couldn't do anything but take her hand. "I'm sorry." he muttered, ashamed._

_Maka turned to her weapon. Soul was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "No I'm sorry Soul. I never wanted to do this to you."_

"_You couldn't have known."_

"_I should have." Maka was crying. Tears rolling down her cheeks, hand covering her mouth in attempt to stifle the sobs._

_Soul cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "It's okay Maka. It's not your fault, please."_

_Maka leaned into the weapon's touch as she slowly started to calm down. When she looked up Soul was smiling softly back at her. "I'm so sorry Soul." she repeated._

_Soul shook his head. "Don't think about it for now Maka. We'll figure it out once we're back to reality."_

_Maka nodded back at him. Their peaceful moment got disrupted when the demon spoke up again. "Why don't we celebrate this reunion with a little music."_

_Maka watched with suspicion as the red demon put a record on the gramophone and placed the needle. Soon, a soft cracky jazz tune filled the room. Oni gestured for the pair to take place in the centre of the floor to start their dance._

"_Maka?" The meister turned her head back and saw Soul's stretched out hand. "Will you please-?"_

_Maka nodded and took his hand. She was led to the centre and then felt his free hand being placed on the small of her back. In return, Maka placed her left hand on his shoulder and they started a steady waltz. Nothing fancy but still familiar._

_Maka's body stiffened up for a second when she was being pulled closer to Soul but soon relaxed. She let her head rest against his shoulder and closed her eyes._

_Maka could feel him take a deep breath. Then she heard him whisper, ever so softly, "I missed you so much Maka."_

"_I missed you too."_

"_You were gone. I thought I lost you. I constantly tried to think what I'd done to fuck up this bad."_

"_Soul, please-"_

"_And then you were back. And I nearly killed you. Good Death you must hate me."_

_Maka grabbed the lapel of Soul's jacket, forcing him to look at her. She would not let her partner – ex partner for all she knew – throw a pity party with himself. "Snap out of it Soul. It was not your fault. We both underestimated with Meredith and what you did in the hospital -" Maka swallowed the lump that had formed at the memory. "It's not your fault. You were confused, tortured by Meredith. It was only natural that you were disorientated."_

"_Maka-"_

"_I will not let you take all the blame for this Soul."_

_Soul felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of Maka's blazing green eyes. So full of determination. He admired it. Always had been admiring it. "I'm sorry – wait with that!" Maka had already grabbed her book from Death knows where, ready to chop him. "You're right. As always. I'm sorry, I was not being cool."_

_Maka smiled sweetly at Soul, lowering her book. "Damn right I am."_

"_Oh guess what," Oni suddenly said. "Time's up." And before either Maka or Soul could protest, they were thrown out of the Black Room._

Soul woke up, feeling noticeably lighter. For once he knew his encounter with Maka in the Black Room was not a dream. This was reality and she was back.

Their conversation brought Soul hope that things would turn out to be okay.

They still had a shit load to talk about but he knew they would get through with it.

**So much fluff!  
I think we're slowly drawing to a close... I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. Will post very soon.**

**Love you! 3**


	18. I'm Home,What Now? (manga spoiler)

**Sorry that I was gone for so long... I just got stuck... and I'm still not completely back... But I do have an idea of where I want to go the upcoming chapter(s) so bare with me.**

Maka woke up, smiling a little. Seeing Soul in the Black Room had been comforting. Familiar. She was happy that they could've talked a little.**  
**

They would soon see each other at the reunion and then they would have a real conversation. For now, Maka would just enjoy the fact that they had a moment for themselves.

The meister got out of bed and dressed in her familiar attire. Today she had an appointment with Shinigami and she had to look her best.

After eating breakfast she left the apartment and started her walk to Shibusen. It almost felt like she was going to school. But that was not the case right now.

Maka hadn't decided yet if she was going back to school but if things were going like they were now, she might think she'd enroll again. It wasn't like she missed a lot during her absence. She was still a perfect student.

"Maka Albarn," Mira Nygus' voice made the meister look up. The bandaged up weapon was standing at the foot of the many stairs, hands on her hips, looking at Maka. "Never thought I'd see your pigtails again."

Maka scuffles around, slightly nervous. "Yeah, me too." She muttered.

Nygus's eyes softened and she spread her arms. "Come here girl." The meister happily let herself be embraced by the nurse/weapon. "It's good to have you back Maka." Nygus whispered.

"I missed Shibusen."

"It missed you too. Wasn't the same without you."

Maka smiled a little. It was nice to hear that others missed her. The two walked to the Death Room where Shinigami was already waiting for her. Seeing his silly mask brought Maka a comforting feeling of nostalgia. "Good morning sir." she said.

"Ah, hello hello Maka. How are you?"

"I'm good."

"That's good to hear. Do you like the apartment?"

Maka nodded. "Thank you for helping me find a place to stay."

"No, thank you for returning to us. I recall that you recovered very quick."

"Yes, the medical care in Boston was outstanding. I was back on my feet in no time."

"That's good to hear," Shinigami said, pleased. "Just don't strain yourself."

"I won't." The meister promised.

"So, have you made contact with Soul again?"

Maka stiffened a little – not unnoticed by Nygus who was standing next to her. "Ah yes. Sort of."

"Would you like to elaborate?" Shinigami asked gently. He did not want to push the meister. Of course, Maka complied.

"We met last night in the Black Room."

"How did it go?"

"It was... good I think. We talked a little and I think- hope that we will be partners again very soon."

Shinigami was happy to hear this, the girls could tell by the small bounce the God made. "I hope so too." Maka smiled. "Well, I'll let you go for today... I hope you have a good day Maka."

"Thank you Shinigami-sama." Maka bowed for the headmaster, then left the room.

Maka walked through the hallway, looking around. It was like she never left.

Her hand was tracing the walls, it felt so familiar. She made her way to the bulletin board and looked the available missions over. Soul and her would've nailed them.

"Bringing back old memories?"

Maka looked up and saw a very familiar woman. "Ms. Marie!"

"Hello Maka." Maka walked up to the teacher and hugged her. "How are you holding up?"

The meister pulled back. "I'm okay."

"Are you back with Soul?"

Maka shook her head. "No. We haven't talked about it yet."

"Well you better hurry. Shibusen has missed its dream team."

Maka chuckled a little nervously. "Yeah well I hope Soul wants to partner up again."

That made the teacher raise a brow. "Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know. After everything that has happened... maybe he doesn't want me anymore."

Marie's face softened. "Come on Maka, I want to show you something."

Maka followed the older woman curiously. The duo left Shibusen and walked through Death City. Every now and then Maka was greeted. The citizens of Death City had been notified by the meister's return and everyone had welcomed her warmly back.

When Maka looked up she saw the cemetery grow closer. "Ms. Marie?" She started hesitantly.

"Don't be afraid."

Maka raised her head. She wasn't afraid. This would do her good. Right? She hoped it would.

"You know, Soul visited you quite a few times. Sometimes with the rest of Spartoi but most of the times alone."

"Really?" Maka blinked.

Marie nodded. "Yeah he couldn't leave you alone. Though he'd never admit it."

"How do you know?"

"I came here every now and then to visit Joe. I guess Soul and I were alike in that situation. We both lost someone we loved dearly." Marie gave her a sad smile. Maka was at a loss of words.

Luckily Marie continued to fill the silence. "Soul would've done almost anything if it meant getting you back. He and Black*Star kept on looking for Meredith long after the search party of Shibusen had stopped. They were relentless."

Maka swallowed and looked down. They had stopped at her gravestone. It looked well kept and there were even some flowers left for her. The group had done so much for her. And how did she repay them? Lies and betrayal.

Maka's face must've shown her thoughts because Marie put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault," She whispered to the meister. "And the important thing is that you're back."

"I guess." Maka whispered.

Marie smiled. "Come, let's go back. You have to prepare for a party."

**Quick notes: thank you **attackonsouleate **for point out the failing rating that I gave this story... Tho I do not know how to rate it... T? You tell me ^_^  
And a super thank you to **JustUrAverageGrl **for the super sweet review! As to answer your question, I do have a Wattpad account you can find me as **_YuHtje_ **But I don't have much on it. I will start to post the chapters of this fic on my account. I hope this helps you.**

**Hope to see you soon x**


	19. You Never Lost Me

Soul looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting his tie nervously. _Relax Soul, _he told himself, _be cool. It's just a party._

Yeah, a party where he'd finally see Maka again. No big deal or whatever. Who the fuck was he kidding?

"Soul, what's taking so long?" Black*Star asked, pounding his fist on the door.

"Calm your tits Star!" Soul shouted back. He shot one last look at his reflection and then left the grand bathroom. The boys had decided to get ready at Kidd's place since Tsubaki had claimed her and Star's apartment for the girls.

Soul was stunned to find his best friend in a neat black tuxedo. "What-"

"Don't ask." Black*Star interrupted.

Soul, deciding he didn't even want to know, moved aside for his friend to occupy the bathroom. He walked the stairs off, to the grand hall where everyone of Spartoi was gathered. Or at least, the most of them. Harvar, Ox, Kim and Jackie were standing together by the food table. Figured, Soul thought. The quartet always stuck together.

"Soul!" Kilik voice made the weapon look up. The African-American meister made his way to Soul, followed by his partners Fire and Thunder.

"Hey," Soul greeted cooly. "How's it going?"

"We're cool." Kilik grinned. "You?"

Just as the weapon was about to answer, he sensed a familiar soul. Soul looked up, searching for its source. He saw the Thompson sisters and Tsubaki walk in and then there she was. Maka. She was walking a few steps behind, looking slightly uneasy. And though she frowned, Soul still thought she looked gorgeous. The dress fitted her like a glove and her hair was tied back in a low classic bun, a few strands framing her face. Soul's hands itched to brush them away. Of course that wouldn't be a good idea so he restrained himself.

Instead, he turned back, only to find that Kilik has already moved on. He found him standing with Black*Star. Kilik met his eyes and he grinned. Soul smirked back. He knew Kilik wouldn't hold a grudge against him for ignoring him.

Soul turned back to Maka and saw she was coming his way, eyes to the floor. He straightened up and met her half way. "Maka." he said.

Maka looked up. "Oh hey Soul."

"You look good."

The meister smiled. "You look not so bad yourself."

Soul ran a hand through his hair, chuckling nervously. "Yeah, thanks."

"How have you been?" She wanted to know.

"Fine, I guess."

But Maka didn't seem to believe him. And he was thankful for that. It meant she still knew him better than the rest. Soul grinned. "It's good to see you."

"Yeah, it is."

Soul looked around. He saw some of the Spartoi members expectantly looking. They quickly looked away when they met eyes with the weapon. Soul bent a little over to Maka. "Is it just me or are we being watched?"

Maka nodded. "Can we go outside for a sec? We need to talk about a few things anyway."

"Sure."

"Okay cool. Let me tell Tsubaki." And with these words she left to find the shadow weapon.

They found Tsubaki with Kidd and Black*Star. "Hey Tsu," Maka said. "Soul and I are gonna be outside for a sec."

Tsubaki smiled. "Sure. Do you want me to save you a plate?"

"Yeah if that's not too much trouble."

"Of course not."

Maka thanked the taller woman and then joined Soul again. "Shall we?"

Soul nodded and guided her to the front door. When they passed Kilik and Harvar he heard them whisper, "Ten bucks they're going to make out." "You're on."

Maka and Soul sat down at the front steps, both not sure where to start.

"So," Soul began, feeling like a nervous little boy. "How was Paris?"

"It was okay I guess. Considering the circumstances."

"Where were you staying?"

"Near the Louvre. Shibusen has a headquarters set up for the European devision."

"Did you like it?"

Maka shook her head. "It was very lonely."

Soul looked his meister over. Her shoulders were hunched and she was biting her lip. All signs of nervousness and uncomfortableness. "I missed you, you know? Every day. I know I said it in the Black Room but I felt like I should tell you again now that we're in reality."

"The Black Room is reality too Soul," Maka corrected him gently. "Just twisted."

Soul chuckled. "Ever the smart ass."

"I do try to keep my image up, yes." Maka said nonchalantly. But she gave him a sideway smirk.

"Still, felt the need to tell you again."

Maka's smirk turned into a soft smile as she turned to him. Green emeralds meeting red rubies, everything around them seemed to fade away. Like they were in some kind of peaceful version of the Black Room.

"I missed you too Soul. So very much. I'm sorry that I let you down." Maka said, speaking slowly so he couldn't hear anything but the truth in her words. "If I could, I would've stayed. I would've shoved Kidd's offer right up his OCD ass and gone straight to you."

"But you couldn't. And I'm not mad at you for it." Soul finished, giving his meister a sad smile. "Kidd was right. He did it to keep both you and Spartoi save. I just couldn't stand the thought of you being out of hand reach."

Maka's lips quivered and before Soul knew what was going on, he felt her slim arms around his neck. Soft hair tickling his face as Maka buried hers in the crook of his neck. Unsure, Soul wrapped his arms around Maka's body, pressing her close to himself. He inhaled her strawberry scented shampoo and felt himself relax.

"I'm so sorry!" Maka sobbed. "I'm sorry that I lied, that I broke your trust. Can you please forgive me? I just want you back. It doesn't feel right to not be by your side."

Soul felt his heart swell. So he wasn't the only one that felt that way. He grinned a little. "You idiot," he mumbled. "You never lost me."

/

_**Hi there sweeties, it has been a while... again... *sweats nervously* I hope you can forgive me for the long hiatus ^_^'**_

_**So, did you like this chapter? We're finally nearing the end of this fic... just one or two more to go. I do not have any plans yet to make a new multi chaptered story, simply because I have no inspiration/time but I will update 'Songs from the Soul' with more one shots :1**_


	20. I'll be with you

"So, are we back together?" Soul asked, trying to suppress the blush fighting his way up his cheeks. It weren't the words he wanted to use – for it sounded like they were in more than a weapon–meister relationship. Still, Maka didn't seem to mind. Instead, she send him a smile.

"Yeah I guess we are."

Soul smirked back at her. "Cool."

Maka shook her head, amused. "Should we head back?"

Soul thought about it. If they went back it meant he had to share Maka's attention with others. And for now he wanted to be a little selfish so he shook his head. "They'll manage a little longer without us." He assured her.

"Well can you at least give me your coat? I'm freezing over here."

Soul chuckled and pulled the garment off, putting it over Maka's shoulders. He rubbed them a little to bring warmth in them and Maka hummed in appreciation.

It felt good to feel her soul hum with his as they sat there, in peaceful silence. But of course Maka – ever the conversationist – broke it with her soft voice. "Do you think we can still perform Soul Resonance?"

"I don't know." Soul admitted. "It's been a while since we tried."

"We did fight together against Meredith." Maka noted. "And my hands didn't get burned so I think we're not that fucked up yet."

Soul grinned. "We're still pretty fucked up Maka."

"Oh yeah, that's true," she agreed. "But there is still hope for us."

Ten minutes of quiet talking they decided it was time to return. When they walked the hallway in, they noticed expectant looks.

"What?" Soul asked, both annoyed and fearful.

"They want to know if you guys are partners again." Liz answered. She may've looked bored but there was a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Soul groaned. "You guys are the worst!" He muttered. To his surprise Maka answered.

"Yeah, we are." And with her answer she reached her hand out to Soul. He took it automatically.

"Told ya!" Black*Star shouted. "I know my subordinates and I knew they wouldn't leave us hanging." The shadow weapon meister turned to Ox "Now give me my money."

Soul gaped. "You actually made a bet on us?"

Black*Star put his hands up in surrender. "It was only on how fast you guys would announce your reunion. Ox thought you wouldn't until school started, saying you'd still had to talk through stuff. I on the other hand believed you wouldn't pull sentimental crap like that and knew you'd get back together as soon as possible."

Soul face palmed himself. "Why do I still call you my best friend?" He asked himself out loud.

Black*Star simply laughed, saying, "You are just jealous of my godliness."

"Like hell." Soul muttered.

Maka giggled and tightened her hold on Soul. The weapon looked down – yes, he really had to do that since a couple of years ago – at her and a soft smile crawled up on his lips. He felt so happy to see his meister by his side again. Alive and laughing.

For the rest of the evening the two of them stayed close to each other, always in eyesight. Maka was standing with the girls, catching up on gossip – that Maka wasn't really interested in – and telling them about Paris while Soul and the boys made arrangements to go to the courts for a game of basketball. But every now and then they'd look up to search for the other.

And when their eyes would meet, they'd give each other a soft smile before turning back to their own conversation.

"So Maka." Liz started. "I noticed you and scythe boy stealing glances at each other. Do you have to tell us something?"

Maka blushed scarlet. "W-what do you mean?"

"Don't try to deny it!" Kim stepped in. "You two have the hots for each other!"

Kim's loud assumptions only made the meister sputter more. "It's not like that!" She protested while the other girls were giggling. When they calmed down Maka elaborated.

"Soul and I are great friends. And being away from him did make me realize how much I care about him." She sighed. "Therefore I don't want to take the risk of screwing things up by confessing my feelings. I can only imagine Soul rejecting me because he's still weary of what happened. I wouldn't blame him for it."

Maka's words made the others faces fall in pity. Tsubaki was the first to move. She took Maka's hand and smiled confidently at the scythe meister. "I'm sure Soul returns the feelings." she said. "He was so committed to you. He didn't even dare thinking about taking another meister. And he was willing to move heaven and earth to get you back."

After Tsubaki's words the others stepped in as well, giving Maka words of assurance that the broody scythe did in fact return the feelings.

It made Maka's heart light up in happiness. She was so grateful to have such great friends. Who always had her back, even with something pity as conflicted emotions for your partner.

What Maka didn't notice was Soul watching her closely. The weapon got pulled out of it by a thrust of an elbow in his ribs.

Soul turned back and noticed Black*Star's big grin, Kidd's knowing smirk and the other boy's exasperede sighs. "What?" he asked, wearily.

"Oh don't play innocent." Kidd said. "It is quite obvious you were looking at Maka."

Soul tried to play it off coolly. "So? Is that wrong? I haven't seen her in almost an year."

Kidd shook his head. "Though it does get kind of pitiful," Kilik joined in. "Having to see you watch Maka with puppy eyes."

Soul sputtered. "I don't have puppy eyes!" he protested. "A cool guy like me would never do that."

"Oh please!" Ox sighed. "You two have been beating around the bush since forever."

"Listen who's talking." The scythe snarled.

Ox turned red and dropped the subject, taking a sip from his drink. _That's what I thought_, Soul thought with a satisfied smirk.

When it was finally time to go, Soul made his way to Maka. She was still talking with Tsubaki, talking about going on a dinner date.

Feeling bold, Soul put his hand on the small of her back to catch her attention. He succeeded, earning him a curious pair of green eyes flicking his way.

Tsubaki noticed Soul's presence as well and excused herself, promising she'd call her later. Before Maka could object, the Shadow Weapon was already making her way to her meister.

So Maka just sighed and then turned to Soul. "Hey." He smiled a little.

"Hey," Maka mumbled back. "are you going home?"

"Yeah,"_ You can do this Soul. It will only sound logical._ Soul thought to encourage himself. "Do you want to come along?"

Maka seemed to hesitate but then she nodded. It brought a rare big smile on Soul's face. He walked them out of the mansion, to where his bike was parked.

It almost seemed like nothing had changed. Like they hadn't been separated for ten months. Maka took her familiar place behind Soul, wrapping her arms loosely around his waist.

"You might want to hang on a little tighter." Soul said as he kicked the bike to life.

Maka only scoffed back at him, which only made him more determined to make Maka hold him tighter. So Soul revved the engine a couple of times and then sped off. In stomach dropping speed might Maka add.

Eventually Soul got his way, Maka clutched to him for dear life. "Soul," Maka croaked when she noticed they were not going the normal way to the apartment. "Where are we going?"

"Taking the sight seeing tour." Soul called back to her over the noise of the ending.

The meister sighed and closed her eyes, letting her partner have his way. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the ride. Five minutes or ten or an hour later, they stopped.

Maka opened her eyes and saw they reached Shibusen stairs. A smile crawled up on her face unconsciously. And when she looked at Soul she saw he was smirking as well.

"You think you can still take those stairs on, Albarn?" He dared.

Maka – ever one to take a challenge on, especially if she could wipe cocky smiles from faces while doing it – nodded. "You're on Evans." she taunted back.

And so they took off, running up the stairs like they did all those times before that fateful day. But Maka didn't think about it. She didn't think about the loneliness that she had felt all those days in France. About how every now and then a tear would escape her eyes before she would fall asleep.

All she thought about now was the sound of her fast heartbeat ringing in her ears, the burning feeling of her legs from the running and the feeling of complete joy when she saw Soul right by her side. When she started to fall behind – due to lack of training – he reached for her hand.

She took it without a second thought and let herself being pulled up those stairs by him.

Finally they made it, both out of breath but feeling more alive than ever. Soul led Maka to the balcony, still holding her hand, and leaned down on it for support. As he tried to catch his breath, he looked over his shoulder at her. "Call it a draw?" He said with a smirk.

Maka smirked back. "Yeah, let's."

Soul gave a small tug on Maka's hand, pulling her closer to him. Together they watched the view over Death City. The sight of the lit up houses had always amazed Maka. From childhood on her mother would take her to Shibusen on her birthday and they'd watch the city be illuminated by the many houses.

The thought of her mother made Maka's mood fall a little. She wasn't sure if Kami had heard about the news of her death being a fake. Wasn't even sure if she heard about her 'death'. Perhaps she should ask Shinigami or papa.

"Hey Maka," Soul suddenly said. "What are you thinking about?"

Maka turned and saw her weapon look a little worried at her. She just shook her head and let it rest on his shoulder. "Nothing," she sighed. "Just my mama."

"What about it?" he wanted to know.

"She used to bring me here when it was my birthday. I loved the idea of one day going to Shibusen, partially for the amazing the school had over DC."

Soul chuckled. "Well, than it's good that you back."

Maka nodded and closed her eyes. She listened to Soul's somewhat fast heartbeat. _Was he nervous?_ She thought. _Nah, that can't be._

Meanwhile Soul felt like a shaking straw. He wasn't used to his meister's show of affection. Though he would lie if he said he didn't enjoy it. In fact, Soul felt a little guilty for liking it that much. Maka would probably chop his head in two if she even got a glimpse of his thoughts.

But for now he just let his forehead rest on Maka's. It felt nice to have her so close to him. He could feel her body warmth radiating off of her from the running, a faint smell of strawberries hanging around her. Her shampoo, Soul remembered. She still used her old shampoo huh?

His trail of thought got interrupted by Maka softly saying his name. He looked down and was met by her big green eyes. "Yes?"

"I want to thank you for not giving up on me."

Soul felt his face soften at the vulnerable looking girl next to him. He smiled and before he could give it a second thought, he pulled his meister close to him and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Thank you for returning to me." He mumbled. He closed his eyes in fear to see Maka's reaction. But they quickly flew open when he felt soft lips touch his cheek. Maka was just pulling back, red dusting her cheeks. He gave her a questioning look.

"I'm just happy to be back with you." She admitted shyly. It felt weird to see his confident meister look so shy and vulnerable. He smiled and took her chin in his thumb and pointer finger, pushing her head up to meet her eyes.

_This was my moment,_ he thought, _I can't screw it up!_ "And I'm happy too." He said. "Will you stay with me? For as long as possible?"

Maka seemed to understand Soul and instead of answering with words, she answered with actions. She stood up on her toes and kissed him again, this time on his lips. It was a shy, light kiss but it still send Soul's head spinning.

Carefully he cupped her cheeks, as if she was glass, and kissed her tenderly back. When he pulled back he saw Maka smile softly back at him. "I take that as a yes," he said with a breathy smile.

Maka nodded. "I'll be with you for as long as you want me."

"Good because I want you forever." Soul muttered and pulled her close in a hug.

His whole body felt warm with happiness.

It was weird to think how everything had turned around. Multiple times. First he thought he lost his partner, his soulmate, forever and now here he was. With Maka closer than ever before.

He was a lucky weapon.

**Hey there, so you may've noticed this chapter was (exceptionally) longer than all the others. this is because this will be the last chapter of the story. I am thinking about writing an epilogue but that will be it. I hoped you liked it and thank you for reading!  
I am so grateful for the sweet reviews you guys left me and I want to thank you so much for being patient with me and my irregular updates.  
Love you souls 3**


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